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OP-EDS
Sep. 29, 2008 Press Release: Shuttered Stores Increasingly Litter U.S. Landscape
As shopping centers go dark, cities reconsider the merits of uncontrolled retail development. Includes a list of the more than 7,000 chain store closures announced this year.
Jul. 19, 2008 Low prices, but at what cost?
by Stacy Mitchell, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Starting a small business or getting a union production job provided a living for generations of Americans. No other company has done more to erode this path to a middle-class life than Wal-Mart.
Jun. 20, 2008 Bigger bang from independents' bucks
by Stacy Mitchell and Jim Gile, Albany Times-Union
The Capital Region's future would be much better served by fostering the growth of locally owned businesses, rather than chasing after big-name national retailers.
Apr. 25, 2008 Wal-Mart Takes Greenwashing to a New Level
 by Stacy Mitchell, Beacon Broadside
One company has developed a far more sophisticated and dangerous approach to manipulating environmental sentiment.
Dec. 12, 2007 Seek Out Locally Owned Stores This Holiday Season
By Stacy Mitchell, Minneapolis Star Tribune
In the wake of yet more toy recalls, it's time to ditch the faceless corporate economy in favor of businesses owned by people who live in our communities and care about what they're selling.
Nov. 23, 2007 Holiday Shopping: Buying Local Gives Big Boost
By Stacy Mitchell, Portland Press Herald
Our holiday shopping choices can make a big difference to Maine's economy.
Sep. 11, 2007 Is Eating Local the Best Choice?
By David Morris. Those who say eating local is not always the best choice for the planet are forgetting one very important part of the equation: community.
Jun. 24, 2007 "Green" Wal-Mart an oxymoron?
by Neal Pierce, Washington Post Writers Group, Jun. 24, 2007
May. 20, 2007 Informed Growth Act a needed tool for Maine communities
by Stacy Mitchell, Maine Sunday Telegram
State lawmakers are now considering a bill that would give all Maine communities a process for evaluating the costs and benefits of large retail projects.
Mar. 28, 2007 The Impossibility of a Green Wal-Mart
 By Stacy Mitchell, Grist
Wal-Mart's green initiatives have distracted journalists and activists alike from the fundamental unsustainability of big-box retail.
Nov. 7, 2006 Wal-Mart generics mislead consumers
by Jeff Milchen and Stacy Mitchell, Providence Journal.
The media have greeted Wal-Mart's generic drug program with glowing headlines and little of the scrutiny it deserves.
Oct. 23, 2006 Wal-Mart's Drug Deal
by Jeff Milchen and Stacy Mitchell, TomPaine
Dec. 5, 2005 What To Do About Wal-Mart
Rather than campaigning to convince one company to change its ways, we would do better to focus our energies on changing the underlying policies that created this monster?and will continue to create others. --by Stacy Mitchell, TomPaine.com
Jul. 7, 2005 The Politics of Land Grabbing
The central question at the heart of the eminent domain debate is, how much do we value community? -- by David Morris, Alternet.org
Apr. 21, 2005 Acres for Wal-Mart
Known for squeezing every last dime out of employees and suppliers, Wal-Mart has even managed to get a rock-bottom deal on corporate green-washing. -- by Stacy Mitchell, Alternet.org
Jul. 2, 2004 Celebrating Independents: America's Independent Businesses Have Reasons for Optimism
by Stacy Mitchell, ReclaimDemocracy.org
Mar. 17, 2004 Home Shopping Networks
People looking for an alternative to Wal-Mart may need look no further than their own community, to the growing number of successful community-owned retail enterprises operating around the country. by Stacy Mitchell, AlterNet
Jan. 13, 2004 Wal-Mart's False Plays at Ignorance
A company known for exercising precise control over the movement of tubes of toothpaste pleads ignorance when its stores are accused of violating labor laws.
Jan. 11, 2004 Massive retail expansion could harm Maine's economy
by Stacy Mitchell, Maine Sunday Telegram
Dec. 1, 2003 Does Wal-Mart Really Need Our Tax Dollars?
by Stacy Mitchell, High Country News
Sep. 8, 2003 Mad in the USA
by Stacy Mitchell, AlterNet
Jun. 27, 2003 Saving Banff: How Banff and Other Communities Can Preserve Their Character
by Stacy Mitchell, Calgary Herald
Nov. 17, 2002 Local Retailers Can't Grow in the Shadows of Supercenters
by Stacy Mitchell, Duluth News Tribune
Jul. 8, 2001 Belfast votes in self-defense
by Stacy Mitchell, Portland Press Herald
Jun. 5, 2001 Midway Home Depot dismantles concept of quality of life
by Stacy Mitchell, Saint Paul Pioneer Press
Jan. 8, 2001 When a Giant Retailer Moves on, It Leaves its 'Big Box' Behind
by Stacy Mitchell, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Mar. 17, 2000 Bucking the Chain Store Trend
by Stacy Mitchell, Rocky Mountain News
ARTICLES, INTERVIEWS, & SPEECHES
Aug. 1, 2008 Sharp Rise in Shopping Center Vacancies
 by Stacy Mitchell, Main Street News
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.
Jun. 12, 2008 CD: Catalyzing Your Own "Buy Local" Movement
This CD contains 130 slides synched with audio from a presentation given at the National Main Streets Conference in Philadelphia on April 1, 2008.
May. 9, 2008 Community-Owned Stores
by Stacy Mitchell, Forum News, May-June 2008
This article is reproduced with permission from the National Trust's Forum.
Mar. 11, 2008 Radio Podcast: The Big-Box Swindle
A one-hour podcast from the Mark Johnson Show on WDEV (in three parts).
Mar. 1, 2008 Visit Big Box Tool Kit!
 ILSR's online resource center to help citizens beat the big boxes and chart a new course for economic development in their communities.
Mar. 1, 2008 Resources from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance
This flyer provides an overview of the web sites and other resources on local business and big-box retail offered by ILSR. Please feel free to copy and distribute.
Feb. 1, 2008 Whole Foods: The Local Face of a Mega-Retailer
 by Stacy Mitchell, The Bollard
Interviews with 18 local suppliers raise serious questions about the company's commitment to local food.
Dec. 1, 2007 CD-ROM: Regulating Big Box Retail
A session from the American Planning Association's 2007 conference. Presenters were Thomas Jacobson, Stacy Mitchell, and Julie Tappendorf. CD-ROM includes audio synchronized with PowerPoint, transcripts and slides, note sheets, and reading materials.
Nov. 8, 2007 Smart City Radio: Hometown Advantages
 The national broadcast of a conversation about independent businesses with Stacy Mitchell of the New Rules Project and Mitch Kaplan, owner of Books & Books in Miami.
Aug. 24, 2007 Declaration of Independents
Lecture delivered by Stacy Mitchell at the 26th Annual E.F. Schumacher Lectures in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
Jun. 18, 2007 DVD: Stacy Mitchell Talks about the Big-Box Swindle
DVD of ILSR's Stacy Mitchell giving a talk in Nov. 2006 about the hidden costs of big-box retail and what communities can do to rebuild local businesses. The event was sponsored by Local First Utah and filmed by Salt Lake City Television. (1 hr, 4 min)
Feb. 28, 2007 The Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers
 Subsidies, tax dodges, and dead malls.
An Interview with Stacy Mitchell.
Multinational Monitor, Feb. 2007
Dec. 7, 2006 Big Box Swindle: The Fight to Reclaim America from Retail Giants
By Stacy Mitchell, AlterNet - Real change won't come until we stop thinking of ourselves as consumers and start thinking of ourselves as engaged citizens.
Nov. 9, 2006 Exposing the Big-Box Swindle
Q&A on Big-Box Swindle from Bookselling This Week.
Nov. 7, 2006 Mass Consumption: A once-local author talks about the perils of big-box retailers
by Paul Demko, City Pages
Nov. 7, 2006 Declaration of Independents
How to win the fight against the colonization of our local communities by big-box retailers. A ChangeThis manifesto written by the New Rules Project's Stacy Mitchell.
Jun. 2, 2006 Ensuring a Future for Independent Businesses
This talk was sponsored by the American Booksellers Association and given at Book Expo America, an industry trade show, in Washington, D.C. on May 19, 2006.
Jun. 2, 2006 Reviving Locally Owned Retail
Talk given on May 16, 2006 at the CLIC Trade Show: Connecting and Linking Independents with Commercial Developments, an event organized by the Austin Independent Business Alliance.
Aug. 19, 2005 Wisconsin Public Radio: Chains on Main
Joy Cardin's guest, Stacy Mitchell, explains why saving our downtowns and main streets is so important to our local identity. (Note: Real Audio users may need to change the extension of this file to ".ram" after it downloads in order to play.)
Jul. 26, 2005 Will Wal-Mart Eat Britain?
Talk delivered in London on May 26, 2005, sponsored by the New Economics Foundation.
Feb. 1, 2004 Protecting Locally Owned Retail: Planning Tools for Curbing Chains and Nurturing Homegrown Businesses [PDF]
by Stacy Mitchell, Main Street News, February 2004. ?National Main Street Center, National Trust for Historic Preservation. All rights reserved.
Jan. 10, 2004 Where We Shop and Why It Matters
Smart City Radio featuring Stacy Mitchell of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance; Steve Bercu of the Austin Independent Business Alliance; and Dan Houston of Civic Economics.
Oct. 8, 2003 Stopping Superstore Sprawl
Speech on the harm superstores do to communities and local economies, and what citizens can do about it, delivered in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, on October 8, 2003.
Jul. 1, 2003 Independent Businesses, Unite! [PDF]
By forming alliances, independent businesses can regain their central role in our economy - by Stacy Mitchell, InBusiness
Oct. 1, 2002 New Rules for the New Localism: Favoring Communities, Deterring Corporate Chains
An Interview with Stacy Mitchell, Multinational Monitor
Sep. 1, 2001 Homegrown Economics: How Boulder Businesses are Staying Ahead of the Chains
by Stacy Mitchell, Orion Afield
Apr. 1, 2000 Local Retailers Hit the Web
In the flurry over the growth of e-commerce, one fact is rarely addressed: e-commerce is attracting consumer dollars that used to go to local stores. Now independents are collaborating to bring online profits back to Main Street.
Apr. 1, 2000 The Impact of Chain Stores on Community
A speech by ILSR's Stacy Mitchell delivered at the annual conference of the American Planning Association
REPORTS
May. 5, 2008 4 Ways Your Rebate Check can Help You and Our Local Economy
Flyer for download and distribution.
Mar. 18, 2008 Buy Local Slide Show
 Watch our online slide show of examples of how of how communities nationwide are promoting the importance of supporting locally owned businesses.
Jan. 10, 2008 How to Start a Buy Local Campaign
Buy local campaigns are changing people's shopping habits in cities across the country. Learn how to launch one in your community.
Dec. 2, 2007 Why Support Locally Owned Businesses?
Our top ten reasons why locally owned businesses are critical to your community's well-being and economic vitality. Download as a one-page flyer for distribution.
Jul. 19, 2007 Wal-Mart Maps
 See which states have the most Wal-Mart stores and the most Wal-Mart square footage per capita, as well as a map of the 246 outlets Wal-Mart has abandoned.
May. 31, 2006 What Studies Show about Wal-Mart and Big-Box Retail
Our recently expanded list of studies that examine such questions as: Does Wal-Mart create jobs? Do big-box stores boost the tax base? Do independent stores benefit the local economy more than chains? Organized by category, with summaries and links.
May. 9, 2006 10 Reasons Why Maine's Homegrown Economy Matters: And 50 Proven Ways to Revive It
Practical tools for strengthening locally owned business.
Oct. 12, 2005 Wal-Mart's Impact on Police Costs
Many cities and towns across the country are reporting that big-box retailers are generating large numbers of police calls?far more than local businesses do?and costing local taxpayers a fortune.
Oct. 1, 2003 10 Reasons Why Vermont's Homegrown Economy Matters: And 50 Proven Ways to Revive It
Written by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and published by the Preservation Trust of Vermont, October 2003. Detailed here are practical tools for strengthening locally owned business. Most strategies are applicable anywhere, not just Vermont.
Sep. 1, 2003 The Economic Impact of Locally Owned Businesses vs. Chains: A Case Study in Midcoast Maine [PDF]
Institute for Local Self-Reliance
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