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Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America's Independent Businesses
In less than two decades, large retail chains have become the most powerful corporations in America. In this deft and revealing book, Stacy Mitchell illustrates how mega-retailers are fueling many of our most pressing problems, from the shrinking middle class to rising pollution and diminished civic engagement—and she shows how a growing number of communities and independent businesses are effectively fighting back.
Mitchell traces the dramatic growth of mega-retailers—from big boxes like Wal-Mart, The Home Depot, Costco, and Staples to chains like Starbucks, Olive Garden, and Old Navy—and the precipitous decline of independent businesses. Drawing on examples from virtually every state in the country, she unearths the extraordinary impact of these companies and the big-box mentality on everything from soaring gasoline consumption to rising poverty rates, failing family farms, and declining voting levels. Along the way, Mitchell exposes the shocking role government policy has played in the expansion of mega-retailers and builds a compelling case that communities composed of many small, locally owned businesses are healthier and more prosperous than those dominated by a few large chains.
More than a critique, Big-Box Swindle provides an invigorating account of how some communities have successfully countered the spread of big boxes and rebuilt their local economies. Since 2000, groups of ordinary citizens have halted more than two hundred big-box development projects, and scores of towns and cities have adopted laws that favor small-scale, local business development and limit the proliferation of chains. From cutting-edge land-use policies to innovative cooperative small-business initiatives, Mitchell offers communities concrete strategies that can stave off mega-retailers and create a more prosperous and sustainable future.
Mitchell traces the dramatic growth of mega-retailers—from big boxes like Wal-Mart, The Home Depot, Costco, and Staples to chains like Starbucks, Olive Garden, and Old Navy—and the precipitous decline of independent businesses. Drawing on examples from virtually every state in the country, she unearths the extraordinary impact of these companies and the big-box mentality on everything from soaring gasoline consumption to rising poverty rates, failing family farms, and declining voting levels. Along the way, Mitchell exposes the shocking role government policy has played in the expansion of mega-retailers and builds a compelling case that communities composed of many small, locally owned businesses are healthier and more prosperous than those dominated by a few large chains.
More than a critique, Big-Box Swindle provides an invigorating account of how some communities have successfully countered the spread of big boxes and rebuilt their local economies. Since 2000, groups of ordinary citizens have halted more than two hundred big-box development projects, and scores of towns and cities have adopted laws that favor small-scale, local business development and limit the proliferation of chains. From cutting-edge land-use policies to innovative cooperative small-business initiatives, Mitchell offers communities concrete strategies that can stave off mega-retailers and create a more prosperous and sustainable future.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
20 people are currently reading
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June 25, 2008
I'm not sure how anyone could shop at Walmart, or any big-box store, after reading this book. Once you peel back all of the stinky, rotten layers of how these corporations do business and how they destroy the fabric and identity of so many communities when they move into town, you realize how these stores really cost us all more in the long run, despite the seductive promise of low prices. Mitchell does an excellent job of systematically knocking down every argument in favor of big-box stores. No, they don't always have the lowest prices (although they spend a lot of money trying to convince you they do), and no, they don't bring much-promised tax revenue to communities once they move into town, and no, they don't create lots of fabulous new jobs. This was one of those books that had me constantly reading passages aloud to my husband so I could share my outrage with someone. Read this book, please, and tell your friends to read it.
November 14, 2020
First, there is a lot of important information in here that we all should be aware of and concerned about. Second, after you read this you will find it difficult to step into another big box store without feeling like part of the problem. Third, read it anyway.
I've been boycotting Walmart for decades. Ever since I woke up one day in the small rural Illinois town I'd been living in for the past few years and realized that every single piece of clothing I was wearing down to my bra and hair tie, all the food in my house, my curtains, picture frames, most of my music CDs, pens, pencils, paper, napkins, TP, towels, toiletries, etc. had been purchased at Walmart. That Illinois town had once had a vibrant downtown, three grocery stores, and a variety of other independently owned businesses but by the time I got there a few years after the Walmart had opened, all that was left was a floundering Kroger, an independent grocer, and a couple of downtown independent businesses. Now, twenty years later, the grocery stores are gone, the downtown is nearly vacant, and the only place to buy basically anything is at that Walmart supercenter, unless you want to drive nearly an hour to Peoria, where you won't find independents but you will find many more chains and big box stores.
The thing is, I CAN boycott Walmart because now I live in a much more populated area with lots of options but people stuck in towns owned by Walmart are victims of whatever they decide to carry and whatever price they decide to sell at (and trust me, the prices do go up once the competition is gone) Still, the independent businesses are disappearing and with them, jobs. I don't just mean jobs from the stores that are closed but also jobs from the suppliers of those stores, jobs from the businesses and banks that supported those stores, jobs from the manufacturers that had to send their jobs overseas because they can't make products cheaply enough here for Walmart to stock them (that's right, Walmart doesn't want quality, American-made goods when they can get a cheaper version from China). With the jobs disappearing from the now vacant stores, communities have also lost tax revenue and community support for things like sports teams and summer programs.
I could go on and on but this book lays it out very well, the damage that the big-box retailer does to our towns and communities. The author lays out many plans for combating these greedy behemoths but with hindsight (this book was written over a decade ago) it seems not all have been successful. I don't know that we can turn the tide, I suspect we're too far gone, but still, if there is hope, it might be within these pages.
This book is still very relevant but could definitely use an update or at least a re-release with a new forward to address the changes that have taken place since the first publication. For example, many of the villains in this story have not survived (Borders and Circuit City come to mind), taken out by I assume the likes of Amazon and their own redundancy. And others that are floundering (such as Best Buy) due to alternative online sources for music and other forms of entertainment. On that note, while Walmart is featured prominently and is by far the biggest drain on an community unlucky enough to have one, there are multiple chains mentioned.
I've been boycotting Walmart for decades. Ever since I woke up one day in the small rural Illinois town I'd been living in for the past few years and realized that every single piece of clothing I was wearing down to my bra and hair tie, all the food in my house, my curtains, picture frames, most of my music CDs, pens, pencils, paper, napkins, TP, towels, toiletries, etc. had been purchased at Walmart. That Illinois town had once had a vibrant downtown, three grocery stores, and a variety of other independently owned businesses but by the time I got there a few years after the Walmart had opened, all that was left was a floundering Kroger, an independent grocer, and a couple of downtown independent businesses. Now, twenty years later, the grocery stores are gone, the downtown is nearly vacant, and the only place to buy basically anything is at that Walmart supercenter, unless you want to drive nearly an hour to Peoria, where you won't find independents but you will find many more chains and big box stores.
The thing is, I CAN boycott Walmart because now I live in a much more populated area with lots of options but people stuck in towns owned by Walmart are victims of whatever they decide to carry and whatever price they decide to sell at (and trust me, the prices do go up once the competition is gone) Still, the independent businesses are disappearing and with them, jobs. I don't just mean jobs from the stores that are closed but also jobs from the suppliers of those stores, jobs from the businesses and banks that supported those stores, jobs from the manufacturers that had to send their jobs overseas because they can't make products cheaply enough here for Walmart to stock them (that's right, Walmart doesn't want quality, American-made goods when they can get a cheaper version from China). With the jobs disappearing from the now vacant stores, communities have also lost tax revenue and community support for things like sports teams and summer programs.
I could go on and on but this book lays it out very well, the damage that the big-box retailer does to our towns and communities. The author lays out many plans for combating these greedy behemoths but with hindsight (this book was written over a decade ago) it seems not all have been successful. I don't know that we can turn the tide, I suspect we're too far gone, but still, if there is hope, it might be within these pages.
This book is still very relevant but could definitely use an update or at least a re-release with a new forward to address the changes that have taken place since the first publication. For example, many of the villains in this story have not survived (Borders and Circuit City come to mind), taken out by I assume the likes of Amazon and their own redundancy. And others that are floundering (such as Best Buy) due to alternative online sources for music and other forms of entertainment. On that note, while Walmart is featured prominently and is by far the biggest drain on an community unlucky enough to have one, there are multiple chains mentioned.
June 7, 2016
Growing up in Selma, I was aware of two different 'cities': one was a coherent downtown core that consisted of attractive if decaying and inactive buildings; the other was a twelve-mile stretch of parking lots, boxes, and neon signs running north of the city proper. We went downtown for the library and courthouse; we went down Highland Avenue for everything else. Millions of towns across the United States, but especially in the Southeast, have a similar brokenness. They were broken by shining lights, promises of jobs and prosperity, and the lie that this kind of 'progress' is inevitable. Big-Box Swindle exposes the seeming triumph of corporate colonialism not as an inevitable result of market economics, but a product of tax and zoning policies pitted against widespread public apathy. In Swindle, Stacy Mitchell argues that accepting and promoting big-box development is economically self-defeating, and shares the stories of citizens who have taken action to push back. While unashamedly hostile toward the chain stores, it invites political interest from across the spectrum -- whether from progressives, who fear depressed wages, libertarians who object to the public's money being handed over to private corporations, and conservatives who see the big-box bulldozers as a threat to community life.
Although the first chain stores appeared in the late 19th century, it wasn't until the federal government began taking a heavy interest in playing with development and transportation that they really took off. From the very beginning, big boxes were supported by big government -- and not just in expected ways. To be sure, when Uncle Sam built interstates out into the country and fixed mortgage practices so that loans inside cities were depressed, and loans outside the city proper encouraged, they benefited -- but that's been covered by all kinds of books, especially Suburban Nation. Another practice that Mitchell shares is that of the government allowing developers to write off forty years of building depreciation in only seven to ten years. This urged developers to throw up sites, and abandon them once the tax write-off was no longer available. (This is presumably one reason why Wal-Mart stores have a planned life cycle of sixteen years.) Developers enjoyed (and enjoy) a banquet of political favor: cities buy land for them and sell it to them on the cheap, or better yet seize it under eminent domain and turn it over to development; most states allow large companies to play tax games with subsidiaries and holding companies, the kind that mean annual tax bills under $300. And for all that help, these boxes are still propped up by public tax subsidies and infrastructure -- roads, power, and water -- that stress city budgets to the point of bankruptcy, especially when the chains move on and leave a vast parking lot whose wastewater still has to be corralled and treated.
Why did cities do this to themselves? Mitchell argues that most of the reasons offered rarely stand up to scrutiny. The chains' prices aren't particularly lower than their competition, at least not after they've established themselves. At the outset prices are low, mostly to build a customer base. What is lower are wages, because these stores experience high employee turnover and have zero interest in investing in them. Because independent stores operate on a margin, even losing 10% of their business is enough to send them reeling into bankruptcy. What's worse, because the chains are part of a national network, they don't bother integrating themselves into the local economy. They're not buying products from local factories, using local ad agencies, law firms, and banks. Home Office handles that. They don't even provide jobs, so much as claim existing ones -- just as they claim the existing demand for their wares. People's communities become nothing more than dots on a map to be conquered by a national strategy: Wal-Mart, for instance, likes to saturate an area with stores and then close redundant ones once it has become the apex.
Mitchell's concern isn't merely with the local economy and the private use of public money; she has a passionate interest in the communal welfare of people, of the ties that bind us to our neighbors and enrich our lives. Independently owned businesses and their employees are invested in the local community; their taxes support the services, and if their parking lot poisons the water, their owner's kids are drinking it. At times, she borders on the romantic, bringing to mind You've Got Mail: the small business owners love their customers and carefully choose what they might offer, and have long heartfelt conversations with everyone. The box stores leave you to read labels by yourself, and if you're not buying then get out already. Mitchell's overt hostility toward the chains means they can do nothing right: at one point, she scolds Wal-Mart for being discriminatory about its stock, choosing not to carry gangsta rap cds; several pages later she gripes against Blockbuster for not discriminating, and carrying dozens of copies of the latest Hollywood production regardless of its quality, while offering only a few copies of an independent film. Well, dear author, should they be picky about what they stock, or shouldn't they?
Big Box Swindle offers a lot of room for thought, and I approached it with caution. I knew I would be predisposed to agree with the author on some points, being a locally-oriented person, but that same small-is-beautiful stance also made me wary what she might declare as the solution: federal legislation. They're the ones who helped create the problem, so my suspicion is that corporations will happily co-opt whatever legislation comes down the pike. Washington, D.C. is their city, not the people's. Happily, however, she doesn't. Oh, she mentions D.C. as a redoubt against the worst of corporate abuses, but the 'solutions' third of her book is almost wholly citizen-politics. There she recounts people organizing to protect their communities against outside colonization, either by changing zoning and tax laws to discourage big-box development, or by banding together in business cooperatives to compete with the boxes' economy of scale. The closest she comes to urging for national legislation is calling for the states to work together to close off certain tax loopholes. The focus on local activism means a true empowerment of local communities -- of people becoming the primary actors within their own lives, and not just content to let some bull-in-a-china-shop federal agency try to do it for them.
Related:
The Strong Towns organization, the founder of which (Chuck Marohn) has illustrated that low-density auto-oriented development, the home field of big boxes, is a tax sinkhole.
http://www.strongtowns.org/journal/20...
The Small-Mart Revolution, Michael Shuman
http://thisweekatthelibrary.blogspot....
The Wal-Mart Effect, Chates Fishman
http://thisweekatthelibrary.blogspot....
Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture, Ellen Shell
http://thisweekatthelibrary.blogspot....
Although the first chain stores appeared in the late 19th century, it wasn't until the federal government began taking a heavy interest in playing with development and transportation that they really took off. From the very beginning, big boxes were supported by big government -- and not just in expected ways. To be sure, when Uncle Sam built interstates out into the country and fixed mortgage practices so that loans inside cities were depressed, and loans outside the city proper encouraged, they benefited -- but that's been covered by all kinds of books, especially Suburban Nation. Another practice that Mitchell shares is that of the government allowing developers to write off forty years of building depreciation in only seven to ten years. This urged developers to throw up sites, and abandon them once the tax write-off was no longer available. (This is presumably one reason why Wal-Mart stores have a planned life cycle of sixteen years.) Developers enjoyed (and enjoy) a banquet of political favor: cities buy land for them and sell it to them on the cheap, or better yet seize it under eminent domain and turn it over to development; most states allow large companies to play tax games with subsidiaries and holding companies, the kind that mean annual tax bills under $300. And for all that help, these boxes are still propped up by public tax subsidies and infrastructure -- roads, power, and water -- that stress city budgets to the point of bankruptcy, especially when the chains move on and leave a vast parking lot whose wastewater still has to be corralled and treated.
Why did cities do this to themselves? Mitchell argues that most of the reasons offered rarely stand up to scrutiny. The chains' prices aren't particularly lower than their competition, at least not after they've established themselves. At the outset prices are low, mostly to build a customer base. What is lower are wages, because these stores experience high employee turnover and have zero interest in investing in them. Because independent stores operate on a margin, even losing 10% of their business is enough to send them reeling into bankruptcy. What's worse, because the chains are part of a national network, they don't bother integrating themselves into the local economy. They're not buying products from local factories, using local ad agencies, law firms, and banks. Home Office handles that. They don't even provide jobs, so much as claim existing ones -- just as they claim the existing demand for their wares. People's communities become nothing more than dots on a map to be conquered by a national strategy: Wal-Mart, for instance, likes to saturate an area with stores and then close redundant ones once it has become the apex.
Mitchell's concern isn't merely with the local economy and the private use of public money; she has a passionate interest in the communal welfare of people, of the ties that bind us to our neighbors and enrich our lives. Independently owned businesses and their employees are invested in the local community; their taxes support the services, and if their parking lot poisons the water, their owner's kids are drinking it. At times, she borders on the romantic, bringing to mind You've Got Mail: the small business owners love their customers and carefully choose what they might offer, and have long heartfelt conversations with everyone. The box stores leave you to read labels by yourself, and if you're not buying then get out already. Mitchell's overt hostility toward the chains means they can do nothing right: at one point, she scolds Wal-Mart for being discriminatory about its stock, choosing not to carry gangsta rap cds; several pages later she gripes against Blockbuster for not discriminating, and carrying dozens of copies of the latest Hollywood production regardless of its quality, while offering only a few copies of an independent film. Well, dear author, should they be picky about what they stock, or shouldn't they?
Big Box Swindle offers a lot of room for thought, and I approached it with caution. I knew I would be predisposed to agree with the author on some points, being a locally-oriented person, but that same small-is-beautiful stance also made me wary what she might declare as the solution: federal legislation. They're the ones who helped create the problem, so my suspicion is that corporations will happily co-opt whatever legislation comes down the pike. Washington, D.C. is their city, not the people's. Happily, however, she doesn't. Oh, she mentions D.C. as a redoubt against the worst of corporate abuses, but the 'solutions' third of her book is almost wholly citizen-politics. There she recounts people organizing to protect their communities against outside colonization, either by changing zoning and tax laws to discourage big-box development, or by banding together in business cooperatives to compete with the boxes' economy of scale. The closest she comes to urging for national legislation is calling for the states to work together to close off certain tax loopholes. The focus on local activism means a true empowerment of local communities -- of people becoming the primary actors within their own lives, and not just content to let some bull-in-a-china-shop federal agency try to do it for them.
Related:
The Strong Towns organization, the founder of which (Chuck Marohn) has illustrated that low-density auto-oriented development, the home field of big boxes, is a tax sinkhole.
http://www.strongtowns.org/journal/20...
The Small-Mart Revolution, Michael Shuman
http://thisweekatthelibrary.blogspot....
The Wal-Mart Effect, Chates Fishman
http://thisweekatthelibrary.blogspot....
Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture, Ellen Shell
http://thisweekatthelibrary.blogspot....
October 9, 2020
Glad I stumbled into this book (at an independent bookstore, naturally). The book is incredibly detailed, maybe too much for some people, but don't be surprised if she happens to mention a town you grew up in, or an area you're familiar with. I think she may have actually driven through every small town in America to see how they've handled big box stores. I say that because she actually quoted a person I knew from a small town in Maine. So really. She did her research.
I spent most of the book getting more and more frustrated about the story we've bought into as a nation that big retailers are good for us, but the end of the book is about the actions people are taking to restore the power of independent businesses, and the good news is that most of that work can be done locally. Get to know local leaders, read your newspaper, and be aware of what's happening in your town.
Some of this book is clearly outdated, given that Amazon receives only the occasional mention, but is now as dominating as Walmart. It is still highly relevant, though, particularly with how the pandemic has effected "essential" vs "non-essential" businesses. It's more critical than ever to make sure we have strong, robust communities able to support most of their needs internally.
I spent most of the book getting more and more frustrated about the story we've bought into as a nation that big retailers are good for us, but the end of the book is about the actions people are taking to restore the power of independent businesses, and the good news is that most of that work can be done locally. Get to know local leaders, read your newspaper, and be aware of what's happening in your town.
Some of this book is clearly outdated, given that Amazon receives only the occasional mention, but is now as dominating as Walmart. It is still highly relevant, though, particularly with how the pandemic has effected "essential" vs "non-essential" businesses. It's more critical than ever to make sure we have strong, robust communities able to support most of their needs internally.
January 1, 2022
This is the kind of book that you want to buy a case of and hand out to your town mayor, county executive and all members of the town council and force them to read it before voting on whether to agree to have a big chain store move into your community or not.
Seriously. Be prepared to be horrified.
Mitchell forces on Wal-Mart as well as Target, Lowe's, and Home Depot but Penney's, Borders, Barnes & Noble, Costco and a plethora of others - some which have already gone bankrupt (the book was published in 2006) leaving huge empty buildings and ginormous parking lots that continue to contaminate nearby wetlands and waterways. Admittedly, Starbucks and Amazon were mentioned less than a dozen times each.
How the employees are treated - more duties per shift than can be honestly completed during that time period so work continues through meals and breaks. Modified time cards with lost and/or deleted hours which cuts into the individuals paid earnings. Insurance premiums that are unaffordable. Of course, there are big box corporations that want to treat their employees - wages, paid overtime, sick leave and insurance - but according to the author, paying the workers more may actually violate the legal and financial structure of today's publicly traded corporations which are legally "obligated to maximize returns to shareholders." Horrific.
How many communities - in providing massive subsidies and tax write-offs in order to lure these corporations into building within their area - realize that they are also agreeing to subsidize the big box employees. Because the workers wages are so low, the tax payers are also paying food stamps, subsidized housing, and medicaid. This is while property values are devastated and the tax base can not provide the income needed to legally go after bankrupt businesses that litter suburbs and Main Street with vacant buildings and derelict malls as well the lost revenue for schools, community projects or infrastructure repairs. Communities must also invest in water lines, roads, utility lines, police and fire services to these vacant properties while investing even more money to satisfy the big box store now wanting to open a larger superstore on the other side of town. . . .or the next town over. But they will continue to pay the minimum on those properties to prevent the local community from attempting to buy them, blocking any other chain from taking it over or even for the community to develop an incubator business site.
How many state laws and regulations have been modified since the book was published is likely unknown by the general public but quite familiar with the development departments of these chains. And they are still using all of their tricks and illusions in order to deceive the populace into believing they are actually helping the community they build in. And the federal and state governments are - for the most part - weakening any laws on the books that impinge on these mega-retailers profits.
The final chapters go into communities that have managed to fight off the big chains - and it usually takes unification and work before even the slightest mutter of a rumor of the retailer's interest starts wafting through because much of the negotiations occurs well beforehand. Also there is the Alliances which create business incubators and co-operatives that benefit from bulk purchasing deals and support.
It can be done but these corporations are paying thousands of attorneys and developers massive amounts of money - and likely politicians too - and over the decades they are quite adept at getting what they want. Which is to pull as many dollars out of the community and send it to the corporate office. No, not to spend it in the community. That's a lie. Rarely do these big chains get involved in local community activities as they see the town/city as a source of profits only.
I must admit that I am seriously examining my own shopping habits. Today, it was a chain gas station and a franchise for something to drink. But it was the public library for new books and a local grocery store that got the most of the dollars I spent. Which keeps it in the community just like it should be.
2021-271
Seriously. Be prepared to be horrified.
Mitchell forces on Wal-Mart as well as Target, Lowe's, and Home Depot but Penney's, Borders, Barnes & Noble, Costco and a plethora of others - some which have already gone bankrupt (the book was published in 2006) leaving huge empty buildings and ginormous parking lots that continue to contaminate nearby wetlands and waterways. Admittedly, Starbucks and Amazon were mentioned less than a dozen times each.
How the employees are treated - more duties per shift than can be honestly completed during that time period so work continues through meals and breaks. Modified time cards with lost and/or deleted hours which cuts into the individuals paid earnings. Insurance premiums that are unaffordable. Of course, there are big box corporations that want to treat their employees - wages, paid overtime, sick leave and insurance - but according to the author, paying the workers more may actually violate the legal and financial structure of today's publicly traded corporations which are legally "obligated to maximize returns to shareholders." Horrific.
How many communities - in providing massive subsidies and tax write-offs in order to lure these corporations into building within their area - realize that they are also agreeing to subsidize the big box employees. Because the workers wages are so low, the tax payers are also paying food stamps, subsidized housing, and medicaid. This is while property values are devastated and the tax base can not provide the income needed to legally go after bankrupt businesses that litter suburbs and Main Street with vacant buildings and derelict malls as well the lost revenue for schools, community projects or infrastructure repairs. Communities must also invest in water lines, roads, utility lines, police and fire services to these vacant properties while investing even more money to satisfy the big box store now wanting to open a larger superstore on the other side of town. . . .or the next town over. But they will continue to pay the minimum on those properties to prevent the local community from attempting to buy them, blocking any other chain from taking it over or even for the community to develop an incubator business site.
How many state laws and regulations have been modified since the book was published is likely unknown by the general public but quite familiar with the development departments of these chains. And they are still using all of their tricks and illusions in order to deceive the populace into believing they are actually helping the community they build in. And the federal and state governments are - for the most part - weakening any laws on the books that impinge on these mega-retailers profits.
The final chapters go into communities that have managed to fight off the big chains - and it usually takes unification and work before even the slightest mutter of a rumor of the retailer's interest starts wafting through because much of the negotiations occurs well beforehand. Also there is the Alliances which create business incubators and co-operatives that benefit from bulk purchasing deals and support.
It can be done but these corporations are paying thousands of attorneys and developers massive amounts of money - and likely politicians too - and over the decades they are quite adept at getting what they want. Which is to pull as many dollars out of the community and send it to the corporate office. No, not to spend it in the community. That's a lie. Rarely do these big chains get involved in local community activities as they see the town/city as a source of profits only.
I must admit that I am seriously examining my own shopping habits. Today, it was a chain gas station and a franchise for something to drink. But it was the public library for new books and a local grocery store that got the most of the dollars I spent. Which keeps it in the community just like it should be.
2021-271
January 21, 2019
Well researched, very redundant.
July 16, 2009
I try to get both sides of the story on issues and make up my mind based on the weight and validity of the arguments. For the opposing side to this book I looked at Penn & Teller's show Bullshit, and the episode they did on Walmart. Unfortunately Milt Friedman is dead so it is kind of hard to get a free market advocate that isn't over the top so they will have to do.
In summary here's their arguments for Walmart.
Walmart forces suppliers and competitors to be more efficient. That benefits Walmart shoppers.
Sweatshops are good because the people in other countries would have even worse jobs at subsistence farm labor if they didn't have the job in the factory. They had some small college professor supporting this theory, but even a supposed liberal economist, Paul Krugman has said this is true.
Walmart saves over $2,000 a year for the people that shop there, who are mostly poorer, and really need the money.
Walmart pays an average of $10.15 and hour which is much higher than the national minimum wage.
Walmart tries to stop unions, but unions are just big greedy fat cats trying to line their own pockets by collecting more dues.
There is criticism of attempts in Chicago to force Walmart to pay at least $10 an hour. The politicians are presented as self interested and not caring that it will eliminate jobs. An example is given where they talk to a woman who says she doesn't know what she would do without her job at Walmart, and she is glad to have the job.
The fight against Walmart is lead by elitists that look down on people that shop at Walmart.
If you don't like what Walmart is doing, build your own store and do it better than them.
Stacy's book shoots down all these arguments with logic, facts and real stories from those impacted. I could detail where Penn is wrong, but I'll let you read the book and you can decide for yourself.
I think having finished this book you will recognize the bullshit that Penn and Teller are pedaling on their show,and have the tools to prove them wrong with reason and facts. Penn is generally a libertarian, which is supposedly for the free markets. Nothing about Walmart is for the free market and fair competition. Honestly I think he should be ashamed of that episode. Of course he is just in it to make a buck and preach to those that agree with him without an honest presenting of the facts (much like Micheal Moore does for the left).
In summary here's their arguments for Walmart.
Walmart forces suppliers and competitors to be more efficient. That benefits Walmart shoppers.
Sweatshops are good because the people in other countries would have even worse jobs at subsistence farm labor if they didn't have the job in the factory. They had some small college professor supporting this theory, but even a supposed liberal economist, Paul Krugman has said this is true.
Walmart saves over $2,000 a year for the people that shop there, who are mostly poorer, and really need the money.
Walmart pays an average of $10.15 and hour which is much higher than the national minimum wage.
Walmart tries to stop unions, but unions are just big greedy fat cats trying to line their own pockets by collecting more dues.
There is criticism of attempts in Chicago to force Walmart to pay at least $10 an hour. The politicians are presented as self interested and not caring that it will eliminate jobs. An example is given where they talk to a woman who says she doesn't know what she would do without her job at Walmart, and she is glad to have the job.
The fight against Walmart is lead by elitists that look down on people that shop at Walmart.
If you don't like what Walmart is doing, build your own store and do it better than them.
Stacy's book shoots down all these arguments with logic, facts and real stories from those impacted. I could detail where Penn is wrong, but I'll let you read the book and you can decide for yourself.
I think having finished this book you will recognize the bullshit that Penn and Teller are pedaling on their show,and have the tools to prove them wrong with reason and facts. Penn is generally a libertarian, which is supposedly for the free markets. Nothing about Walmart is for the free market and fair competition. Honestly I think he should be ashamed of that episode. Of course he is just in it to make a buck and preach to those that agree with him without an honest presenting of the facts (much like Micheal Moore does for the left).
Read
July 14, 2012Every time a person mentions Amazon, Borders, or B&N, it makes me cringe. Running an independent bookstore in the 21st century is truly a labor of love. So this is not bedtime reading, it stirs me up too much to get a good night's sleep.
December 5, 2007
Got me not to shop at Target for about six months. I'm pretty good at avoiding other big boxes.
Seriously upsetting and convincing,
and well written
Seriously upsetting and convincing,
and well written
August 13, 2018
Stacy Mitchell doesn't mince words when she attacks big-box retailers for the damage they do, not just to the local communities where they locate, but to the entire U.S. economy. Not only have they driven small retailers out of business, but they have forced manufacturers to shift production overseas in order to meet their low-price demands. She backs her claims up with pretty solid numbers. She also ends the book on a hopeful note for local businesses with the development of "buy local" movements in towns and cities across the country. Written in 2005 before online retailing became a major threat to chains and independents alike, she has nothing to say about how to survive that. It is likely that some strategies for survival of local business in the battle against chains will be of use in the battle with e-tailers. We'll see.
February 24, 2025
Real talk, this is the book the streets need right now. I'm too young to remember, but back in the days Big Box stores were often protested by the communities they intended to set up shop in. Over the past couple decades, their propaganda has worked and our spirits have been broken, and we've largely lost the war for local independence.
Pretty much every issue that Mitchell points out in this book is still here today and has pretty much gotten worse. Local governments attitude towards chains also has largely stayed the same, but I suppose there's no time like the present to get started. This book is absolutely incredible and it's a real shame that it flew under the radar mostly. Still, it holds up today on addressing the issues of formula businesses and is absolutely essential for explaining how and why to bring back independent commerce 20 years later.
Pretty much every issue that Mitchell points out in this book is still here today and has pretty much gotten worse. Local governments attitude towards chains also has largely stayed the same, but I suppose there's no time like the present to get started. This book is absolutely incredible and it's a real shame that it flew under the radar mostly. Still, it holds up today on addressing the issues of formula businesses and is absolutely essential for explaining how and why to bring back independent commerce 20 years later.
April 23, 2019
Good information, but the info is dated now. I'm betting Amazon is beating everyone now and Kmart and Sears are all but dead. I didn't finish the book, but I am going to look for local alternatives to some of my usual stops.
April 5, 2022
A Wal-Mart union could completely shift the tides away from American capitalism. Also feels weird writing this on a platform that's owned by Amazon, who're just as much a part of the problem. If you're reading this Bezos, you suck ass
November 19, 2023
One of the most incredible books I've read in a while. Such a succinct appraisal of how corporate chains have impacted and shaped the American landscape, answered so many questions of mine that have been bubbling for years. Well, well worth the read.
December 31, 2023
This is almost 20 years old; the problems it describes have become so much worse. But the 20 years makes it even more interesting, because we can see with hindsight how it started and how horribly unfettered corporatism has damaged our communities and our world.
July 16, 2018
Oh, the sweetness of telling others what to do. Mildly amusing, but repetitive.
January 3, 2019
Very educational book. I highly recommend it for those interested in the retail industry and the economic impact of big box stores, or for anyone who shops at one.
October 2, 2023
there's only so many times i can read how chains hurt small business
December 8, 2023
A great book to understand how mega-corporations are deadly to our communities and what needs to be done to stop it.
December 9, 2023
Finished. Comprehensive catalogs of social, economic and environmental damages inflicted by big box chain stores.
January 23, 2021
Occasionally anachronistic but still powerful argument by one of America's foremost advocates of locally-owned small businesses. Frequent mentions of Borders, Blockbuster, and K-Mart are jarring, but the arguments remain current in the age of Amazon. In six chapters she details the harms to America's communities done by large chain operations, and that the biggest arguments for their proliferation--lower costs to consumers, and job creation--are exaggerated if not outright false. She also discusses how public policy often favors big-box stores, but concludes on hopeful notes: how communities have (sometimes) successfully fought back against chains, and how small businesses have banded together to make themselves stronger. Her evidence is thorough, yet her writing remains passionate, which is a difficult combination for any writer.
September 4, 2010
Big Box Swindle The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the
Fight for America's Independent Business by Stacy Mitchell
This book is a statement against big box retailers;
Lowe's, Walmart, Costco, Barnes & Noble, and Toys R' Us
are some of the businesses which are challenged. It
also challenges Amazon, the online mega-retailer.
The central thesis of this book is that big box stores
do not serve the communities which they operate in: they
lower wages, increase unemployment, increase urban
blight, and give very little back to the communities
they are part of both in terms of charity and money.
Mega retailers owe their allegiance to the stockholders
which hold shares of their company, not the communities
which they operate in.
This often leads to behavior where in order to save
money, the big box retailers use tactics which smaller
independent businesses cannot support. They ask for
development grants, tax breaks, and training programs
from the government. Then after being
in communities, they often abandon the buildings they
are operating in to move to large facilities, pollute
the environment, and break labor laws.
The government tends to take the side of large
corporations. Recently, there have been examples of
using eminent domain to take peoples home to build
shopping centers and mega malls. There is an assumption
that because the mega retailer is cheaper, it is better
for the community. It is the attitude of support the
consumer saving money at all costs.
I personally find mega malls very uncomfortable. They
are impersonal, the clerks often know very little about
the products they are selling, are underpaid, and have
very little investment in the community. I can go to
the local pharmacist and get good service and help with
prescriptions. This does not happen at Walgreens.
There are numerous examples of how much better service
is in a small business in this book.
It is very hard to be a prosumer, a person who sees his
choices in what he consumes as being part of the outcome
of what will be produced in a big box store setting. I
see myself as part of the process of producing and
consuming books at the same time. I make a lot of
choices about how books are purchased and I consume a
lot of them as well.
I am lucky to live in a neighborhood with a fruit stand,
several non-chain restaurants, and many small
businesses. It keeps the character of the neighborhood
intact.
I do not like the massive unchecked growth I see in the
big box stores. Walmart looks like a monopoly to me. I
can see it being broken apart much like Standard Oil was
broken apart. I also don't like the way big box stores
have gained unfair advantages in controlling supply
chains and distribution. It took a $46 million dollar
settlement fought for by the American Bookseller
Association to even out the discounts from distributors
between Barnes and Noble and independent
bookstores.
I like the descriptions of how communities are resisting
having their downtowns taken over by mega retailers.
Some communities place size limits on commercial
buildings, other communities limit the franchises in
their neighborhoods, and still others are forming
community stock corporations to open independent
groceries and department stores where there were none
before.
In some instances small businesses are forming buyers
cooperatives. Ace hardware is a buyers cooperative that
allows independents to remain competitively priced with
Lowe's or Home Depot. Also some towns are forming
independent business alliances like the Austin
Independent Business Alliance.
This book demonstrates the struggle between big box
retail stores and independent businesses. I am on the
side of shopping locally for the most part. I do admit
that I shop online as well. I think they did not do
that great a job covering online shopping in this book.
However, I support the idea of small business preserving
the character of communities as well as the middle
class. This book is very informative. Even if I
don't agree with it completely, it is a very interesting
book.
There is an index and very extensively referenced notes.
I wish the author had separated the books out from the
notes and created a bibliography. It would have made
the book much better. The author probably wouldn't have
liked me using Amazon to show the book. But, in a way,
I actually like Amazon a bit even if it is a mega-retailer.
Fight for America's Independent Business by Stacy Mitchell
This book is a statement against big box retailers;
Lowe's, Walmart, Costco, Barnes & Noble, and Toys R' Us
are some of the businesses which are challenged. It
also challenges Amazon, the online mega-retailer.
The central thesis of this book is that big box stores
do not serve the communities which they operate in: they
lower wages, increase unemployment, increase urban
blight, and give very little back to the communities
they are part of both in terms of charity and money.
Mega retailers owe their allegiance to the stockholders
which hold shares of their company, not the communities
which they operate in.
This often leads to behavior where in order to save
money, the big box retailers use tactics which smaller
independent businesses cannot support. They ask for
development grants, tax breaks, and training programs
from the government. Then after being
in communities, they often abandon the buildings they
are operating in to move to large facilities, pollute
the environment, and break labor laws.
The government tends to take the side of large
corporations. Recently, there have been examples of
using eminent domain to take peoples home to build
shopping centers and mega malls. There is an assumption
that because the mega retailer is cheaper, it is better
for the community. It is the attitude of support the
consumer saving money at all costs.
I personally find mega malls very uncomfortable. They
are impersonal, the clerks often know very little about
the products they are selling, are underpaid, and have
very little investment in the community. I can go to
the local pharmacist and get good service and help with
prescriptions. This does not happen at Walgreens.
There are numerous examples of how much better service
is in a small business in this book.
It is very hard to be a prosumer, a person who sees his
choices in what he consumes as being part of the outcome
of what will be produced in a big box store setting. I
see myself as part of the process of producing and
consuming books at the same time. I make a lot of
choices about how books are purchased and I consume a
lot of them as well.
I am lucky to live in a neighborhood with a fruit stand,
several non-chain restaurants, and many small
businesses. It keeps the character of the neighborhood
intact.
I do not like the massive unchecked growth I see in the
big box stores. Walmart looks like a monopoly to me. I
can see it being broken apart much like Standard Oil was
broken apart. I also don't like the way big box stores
have gained unfair advantages in controlling supply
chains and distribution. It took a $46 million dollar
settlement fought for by the American Bookseller
Association to even out the discounts from distributors
between Barnes and Noble and independent
bookstores.
I like the descriptions of how communities are resisting
having their downtowns taken over by mega retailers.
Some communities place size limits on commercial
buildings, other communities limit the franchises in
their neighborhoods, and still others are forming
community stock corporations to open independent
groceries and department stores where there were none
before.
In some instances small businesses are forming buyers
cooperatives. Ace hardware is a buyers cooperative that
allows independents to remain competitively priced with
Lowe's or Home Depot. Also some towns are forming
independent business alliances like the Austin
Independent Business Alliance.
This book demonstrates the struggle between big box
retail stores and independent businesses. I am on the
side of shopping locally for the most part. I do admit
that I shop online as well. I think they did not do
that great a job covering online shopping in this book.
However, I support the idea of small business preserving
the character of communities as well as the middle
class. This book is very informative. Even if I
don't agree with it completely, it is a very interesting
book.
There is an index and very extensively referenced notes.
I wish the author had separated the books out from the
notes and created a bibliography. It would have made
the book much better. The author probably wouldn't have
liked me using Amazon to show the book. But, in a way,
I actually like Amazon a bit even if it is a mega-retailer.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 29, 2015
It's been a part of my upbringing, having grown up on Cape Cod, the daughter of mainstream hippies, that larger retailers are to be avoided, but I never really thought about why that might be; it was as fundamental a truth as exercise being good for me and junk food being bad. So I was already convinced of the message of this book when I read it: that big-box retailers do more harm to local (and the American) economy than they help. This book contains many, many examples and illustrations of why big boxes are worse than local businesses, and give a lot of good reasons to pay the downtown parking fees just to shop local.
The strongest part of the book, in my opinion, is the section where it discusses what to do about big box stores, other than simply "don't shop there." It was heartening to learn that there were initiatives, usually on a local level, that were working to give the economy back to the communities they're housed in. I learned of the tremendous red tape in my own hometown involved with chain stores setting up shop, and realized that was the other side of the coin that gave me reasons to move away.
Overall, I wouldn't expect this book to create many converts to the anti-Wal-mart crowd; you'd already have to be wary of big boxes, and be receptive to the message, I suspect. You'd also have to agree that the harm the book talks about is worth intervention. But I found it a compelling and fast read.
As a warning, the earlier part of the book can be a bit difficult to get through. There are so many "hidden costs" of big box stores, and so many advantages the big boxes have over local retailers, that it's disheartening to read. But that's what makes the latter chapters such a relief. Still, it might make it difficult for some to get through.
The strongest part of the book, in my opinion, is the section where it discusses what to do about big box stores, other than simply "don't shop there." It was heartening to learn that there were initiatives, usually on a local level, that were working to give the economy back to the communities they're housed in. I learned of the tremendous red tape in my own hometown involved with chain stores setting up shop, and realized that was the other side of the coin that gave me reasons to move away.
Overall, I wouldn't expect this book to create many converts to the anti-Wal-mart crowd; you'd already have to be wary of big boxes, and be receptive to the message, I suspect. You'd also have to agree that the harm the book talks about is worth intervention. But I found it a compelling and fast read.
As a warning, the earlier part of the book can be a bit difficult to get through. There are so many "hidden costs" of big box stores, and so many advantages the big boxes have over local retailers, that it's disheartening to read. But that's what makes the latter chapters such a relief. Still, it might make it difficult for some to get through.
January 16, 2009
This was eye opening and inspired me to be much more conscious of where I'm spending my money, especially on everyday items. Unfortunately, it really depressed me and made me feel a little hopeless about the plight of small business owners, of which I am one.
With my new-found interest in being more supportive of the small time retailer. I went on vacation with my hubby to apple country (Sonoma) After researching a nice apple orchard and country store to visit while we were there, we pluncked down a bit too much change on some home grown apple butter and several other items made by this family owned business. Yes, I spend $5.50 on a small jar of jam. This felt good, supporting the family farm until a couple weeks later. I happened upon the same jar of jam in a Longs Drugs store for $1. Gone are my sympathies. I was duped. Yes, Longs, Walmart, Home Depot are all ruining the economy and the environment according to this author. But I live in suburbia where small businesses seem to never have started in many categories, at least not that I know of. I also can't be driving around town from specialty store to specialty store with my three kids in tow, each of them in a car seat. Oh the work to get them in and out of the car!
So I put this book down, half-read, with a guilty conscience and a feeling of helplessness in doing much to avert this disastrous situation. Okay, I shopped a tradeasone.com a bit. Go fair trade!
With my new-found interest in being more supportive of the small time retailer. I went on vacation with my hubby to apple country (Sonoma) After researching a nice apple orchard and country store to visit while we were there, we pluncked down a bit too much change on some home grown apple butter and several other items made by this family owned business. Yes, I spend $5.50 on a small jar of jam. This felt good, supporting the family farm until a couple weeks later. I happened upon the same jar of jam in a Longs Drugs store for $1. Gone are my sympathies. I was duped. Yes, Longs, Walmart, Home Depot are all ruining the economy and the environment according to this author. But I live in suburbia where small businesses seem to never have started in many categories, at least not that I know of. I also can't be driving around town from specialty store to specialty store with my three kids in tow, each of them in a car seat. Oh the work to get them in and out of the car!
So I put this book down, half-read, with a guilty conscience and a feeling of helplessness in doing much to avert this disastrous situation. Okay, I shopped a tradeasone.com a bit. Go fair trade!
April 14, 2011
Full disclosure: I stopped reading halfway through. I got the point, and it was too depressing to continue reading. But it contains lots of good information, and I'd recommend checking it out if this is a topic that interests you. I haven't been able to set foot in a Wal-Mart since reading this, which has forced me to seek out (local, where possible) alternatives to the very few things I had only been able to find there.
I would be interested to see how things have changed in the years since this book was written. For example, the author mentions Blockbuster as a big-box store that put local video rental places out of business, but every Blockbuster around us has now gone out of business (not sure if the whole chain has yet or not), pushed out by Netflix and Red Box. She also mentions Costco--still a big-box store, but one that apparently has more ethics than Wal-Mart's Sam's Club. I'd be interested to know if they still offer their employees better pay and benefits than Sam's does.
Overall, I'd say it's worth the read. Even if it just makes you think about your shopping habits and about what we've allowed these huge companies to do, it's worth it.
I would be interested to see how things have changed in the years since this book was written. For example, the author mentions Blockbuster as a big-box store that put local video rental places out of business, but every Blockbuster around us has now gone out of business (not sure if the whole chain has yet or not), pushed out by Netflix and Red Box. She also mentions Costco--still a big-box store, but one that apparently has more ethics than Wal-Mart's Sam's Club. I'd be interested to know if they still offer their employees better pay and benefits than Sam's does.
Overall, I'd say it's worth the read. Even if it just makes you think about your shopping habits and about what we've allowed these huge companies to do, it's worth it.
February 11, 2017
This was an excellent read. It was dense, as business and finance are not a strength of mine, but an eye opening fascinating account of big business retail and it's damaging effects on everyone. Highly recommend this book.
June 17, 2010
It took me a long time to get through this book, mostly because it made me really sad. The first 2/3 of the book (at least) is about all of the terrible consequences of big-box retail in the US. I can only read about small towns and city neighborhoods being destroyed by Wal-Mart so many times before I feel a little hopeless. However, I do think that these stories are important to hear. The last 1/3 of the book is more hopeful, describing ways that communities can fight back against corporate retail, and telling success stories.
One critique I have is that this book does not address class issues at all. It seems like a lot of Buy Local campaigns are targeted to, and only affordable for, the upper class (such as Pittsburgh's Shadyside buy local movement). Maybe that is a subject for a different book, but it seems important to work on Buy Local issues in a way that benefits poor people as well as rich.
One critique I have is that this book does not address class issues at all. It seems like a lot of Buy Local campaigns are targeted to, and only affordable for, the upper class (such as Pittsburgh's Shadyside buy local movement). Maybe that is a subject for a different book, but it seems important to work on Buy Local issues in a way that benefits poor people as well as rich.
August 22, 2007
FUCK WAL-MART. I've always said that and I constantly read/watch reasons why that statement makes sense. I have never shopped at a Wal-Mart and I rather get punched in the face than do so. And I rather pay more money elsewhere...yup, I am an indie kind of guy. Good read, great facts, easy on the eyes, and once again Fuck Wal-Mart. Shopping there is just hurting everyone around you. SALES are founded on dead kittens, old peoples tears, and gun pointed at the working man. Eh...uhhh...just read the book, it's nice. I'm an indie guy and i keep it local.
October 22, 2008
I found this book to be eye-opening as to some of the economic and social ills associated with "big box" chain stores. It definitely has me thinking about my own shopping preferences and how those might be changed. That said though, I believe that the author places too much of the blame for the problems she describes on the Big Box stores themselves. It seems to me that the big box retail phenomenon is as much a symptom of broader changes in our society over the past 60 years (or more) as it is a catalyst of those changes.
July 23, 2007
I borrowed this one from the UHD Library. I liked it, and I also recommended it to my students, crossposting from my blog to the student resource blog I maintain. Wal-Mart and Big-Boxes are a popular freshman composition topic here, thus the recommendation.
Here is a link to the note I wrote about it in my personal blog:
[http://itinerantlibrarian.blogspot.co...]
Here is a link to the note I wrote about it in my personal blog:
[http://itinerantlibrarian.blogspot.co...]
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