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Big-Box Swindle is now available in paperback! |
The Big-Box Swindle
Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost
of
Mega-Retailers and the Fight for
America's Independent Businesses, a book by Institute for Local
Self-Reliance
senior researcher Stacy Mitchell, has just been released in paperback (Beacon, $15).
Author, educator, and environmentalist Bill McKibben describes it as "the ultimate account of the single
most important economic trend in our
country." John Marshall of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer names it one of the top ten books of 2006 and writes that it "illuminates a
stunning collection of business outrages, government favoritism, environmental damages, hidden economic and societal costs, and debunked myths" and,
more importantly, "provides inspiring lessons from places that are turning the tide." Among those inspiring lessons are stories of farmers and
small manufacturers that have found a way to thrive by shunning the big boxes in favor of independent retailers; citizens' groups that have succeeded
in transforming their city's land use and economic policies, and communities that have found ways to nurture a host of new local businesses. Click here to learn more about the book and see other reviews.
The Urban
Conservancy would love to bring author Stacy Mitchell to a locally-owned New Orleans
bookstore for a book signing and conversation in early 2008. Won't you help make it happen?
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Strength in Numbers
The little guys are often over-looked. The poboy shop on the corner is not a likely candidate
to qualify for
multi-million dollar Tax Incentive Financing (TIF) from the city, nor federal GO Zone dollars. But what happens when you start looking at
poboys as an industry? According to research conducted by Idea
Village as
part of their Poboy Initiative, regionally, poboy sales are a $50
million dollar industry. Suddenly, poboys are not so easy to overlook.
The recent lease of the Bultman Funeral Home in the Garden District to Borders Books has independent
book sellers-- and the people who love them--in a huddle thinking collectively about sharing information and marketing resources to mitigate the
impact of this new "500-pound gorilla" on the block. Read more about it here.
What to do? A
single local bookstore cannot compare in square footage or in sales volume to a 24,000 square foot national retailer like Borders. But we're
not comparing apples to apples until we look at the economic impact of New Orleans' independent booksellers in the aggregate and factor in the Local
Premium, or the multiple ways in which local businesses reinvest their sales revenue back into the local economy which in turn translates into a
larger number and wider variety of available jobs.
Think tank Civic
Economics Institute (CivEc) did just this with a 2002 case
study assessing the economic impact of local merchants relative to a chain merchant carrying comparable lines of goods in Austin of Borders,
Bookpeople and Waterloo Records in Austin.
The Andersonville Study compared 10 locally-owned stores and service providers to chains competing in the same categories and found
that every dollar spent at a local business generated significantly more additional economic activity than dollars spent at chains.
Click here for these
and
other compelling studies and reports that make the case. Also watch for more New Orleans-specific economic impact analysis of local vs. chain
retailers generated by The Urban Conservancy soon.
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Stay Local! is a proud member of the American Independent Business Alliance.
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Savor the Local Flavor with Us October 19!
Please join us upstairs at Fair Grinds Coffeehouse, 3133 Ponce de Leon, Friday, Oct. 19 from 5:30 - 7:30 pm for an evening of camaraderie and delightful
local taste treats.
Then stick around for some fun political satire from Chris Champagne....he'll reward Stay
Local! supporters with a discounted cover price to his show.
To RSVP, call Dana at 504.232.7821 or email dana@staylocal.org
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A Shout-Out to Volunteer Rachel Mays
It takes a lot to keep the Stay Local! boat afloat; we pound the pavement to collect data from
businesses in order to create the Neighborhood Guides, we verify the eligibility of businesses registering to sign up for listing on
www.staylocal.org, we look for inspiring business owners and craft their
stories
into compelling feature pieces for our Success Stories, and we try
to keep up with goings-on so we can help promote them. Rachel
Leigh Mays does it all with verve.
A Memphis native, Rachel is a graduate student enrolled in the University of New Orleans'
Urban and Regional Planning program. Not one to shy away from a challenge, she packed up her banjo and moved down here last January after her
Peace Corps
stint in Africa (Chad) was cut short by regional strife.
Rachel's current Stay Local! projects include canvassing Treme businesses for inclusion on Stay
Local! as part of a larger project on cultural heritage tourism, and
working with Oak Street's Main Street organization on their
upcoming First Annual Poboy Preservation Festival in
November.
Thanks, Rachel. You're aces!
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Rachel, left, and Dana at an Oak Street Quarterly Mixer at the Oak Street Cafe. |
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This newsletter was sent to you for at least one of the following reasons: you have
registered a qualifying locally-owned and operated business within Greater New Orleans to be listed on Stay Local!'s
website; you are a business advocate that provides financial, technical
or other assistance to locally-owned
businesses in the Greater New Orleans area; or you are an individual
who understands that shopping at independent businesses first and
whenever
possible supports a more sustainable economy and environment, and
strengthens New Orleans' one-of-a-kind culture.
If you were sent this newsletter in error, please accept our apologies. Opting out is as easy as
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