Wal-Mart and Target are currently building "supercenters," which combine their usual array of merchandise with a full supermarket and numerous specialty services from cut flowers...
Contrary to conventional wisdom, the demise of independent businesses is not the inevitable result of market forces and consumer choices. Public policy at all levels...
When a small publisher recently agreed to let Amazon.com be the exclusive seller of a new book about Barack Obama, the deal sparked a flurry...
Five years after the project was first introduced, the homeowners group, University Park Estates Neighborhood Association, has thwarted plans for a 140,000-square-foot Home Depot in...
Shopping center construction continues at a furious pace, even as chain retailers announce plans to close more than 6,500 outlets and vacancy rates soar.… Read...
The grassroots group, New Scotlanders for Sound Economic Development (NS4SED), has convinced the town board in New Scotland, NY, to pass a moratorium on commercial...
Together, two grassroots groups have thwarted a development proposal that would have paved the way for a 128,000-square-foot Super Target in Simsbury, CT.… Read More
This lecture was delivered by Stacy Mitchell at the 26th Annual E.F. Schumacher Lectures in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.… Read More
For Immediate Release: June 29, 2007 Contact: Daphne Loring, Maine Fair Trade Campaign, (207) 777-6387; Stacy Mitchell, Institute for Local Self-Reliance (207) 774-6792 Maine Enacts...
The Maine legislature has given its approval to a bill that requires cities and towns to evaluate the economic effects of large-scale retail development and...
In a unanimous decision yesterday, the California Supreme Court fortified efforts by cities across the state to restrict the development of big-box stores, favor small-scale...
While many parts of the country are overrun with chain stores, San Francisco remains a stronghold for locally owned businesses, according to a new study,...
Many local officials would undoubtedly reconsider big-box projects if they knew that a new mega-store would eliminate more jobs than it creates, or that it...
Q: A major retail development is proposed for our town. The developer is insisting that big-box stores do not harm small business. He references a...
There are many reasons why communities seek to stop a big-box proposal — the effect on local economic development and small businesses, traffic congestion, environmental...