Like discovering the Wizard of Oz is just a guy w/fancy special effects gear

books:

	• Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America's Independent Businesses Stacy Mitchell Beacon Press, 2006 - 318 pages average customer review:based on 13 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

More than we bargained for?

Everyone loves a bargain, and American consumers seem particularly fond of the bargain-priced imported products available at big-box retailers.

Shopping at big-box retailers for the lowest prices may sometimes save us a bundle, but are there hidden costs? The author makes a convincing case that there are. She explains that by shopping at the big boxes, we are hurting our economy by diverting our dollars from locally-owned businesses to far-away head offices and foreign nations. But, you might ask, if those foreign nations don't in turn buy our goods, what will they buy instead? Will they buy our banks, our communications media, and perhaps our politicians as well? As their influence over our daily lives increases, will they support our democratic traditions?

According to the author, politicians need to stop favoring big-box retailers with unfair subsidies. And they need to stop requiring locally-owned business to foot the tax bill - even as they are forced out of existence. This practice is defeating the kind of small-business entrepreneurial spirit that has long been a pillar of our society. It is also destroying better-paying jobs, while increasing minimum wage employment.

Only concerted public pressure will prompt politicians to enact new laws that will level the playing field, giving small businesses a fighting chance at survival. But in the battle to win hearts and minds of politicians and the public, large corporations have an overwhelming advantage, with their deep pockets, public relations skill, and superior organization.

To be fair, the author should mention that some local retailers could be more competitive - by staying open for evening shopping, and by offering the kind of broad selection and one-stop shopping convenience that many consumers crave, for example.

Thankfully, this book does offer some hope, making plenty of suggestions about how small businesses can compete more effectively.

Regardless of which side of the debate you are on, this book will open your eyes. It is carefully researched, skillfully written, and absolutely fascinating. It will likely arouse your anger. And it may even change the way you shop.

Paul Francis Musgrave, author of Indispensable Marketing Strategies - How to Outwit Your Competition, Attract and Retain Customers, and Multiply Your Profits - Marketing Strategy Secrets for Profitable Small Business Management

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Big Box Swindle

An absolutely necessity, especially for people living in areas where a new "big box" is being considered.

The intricate financial benefits to the corporation are absolutely staggering.

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Like discovering the Wizard of Oz is just a guy w/fancy special effects gear

I just started reading this book and I'm already blown away by the world it is revealing to me! Reading how Wal-Mart has corrupted the free enterprise system by manipulating all the mechanisms that enable/encourage fair trade, competition, market demand, consumer preference, cultural uniqueness, etc. was startling. And the part about how Wal-Mart is slowing gnawing its way inside the manufacturers to the point where it requires a company to buy raw materials from Wal-Mart, and soon won't even buy goods but will expect manufacturers to provide goods on consignment! I know that doesn't sound dramatic, but consider what happens when Wal-Mart tells P&G that it must have 100 cases of a new product in every store, in spite of what P& G's projections say the market demand is. The market doesn't go for the product, so only 60 cases are sold per store. Wal-Mart has no risk because they don't own the merchandise. So P&G has to eat the loss somehow. And as the book showed, if a company says no to Wal-Mart, they get kicked out of the store and the sudden loss of revenue can and has bankrupted companies. Good God!! And of course, Wal-Mart isn't the only one doing this.

Reading this book is like accidentally walking into a store's backroom and coming across some dirty sweatshop where everyone is in chains. Then some cleancut, smiling guy hooks your arm, leads you out and gives you some urgent story about how they're trying valiantly to keep such conditions from being necessary in every store in the world. Then stuffs a 30%-off coupon into your hand and guides you to the weekly sale rack.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a guy who likes popping into Target, Home Depot and a host of other chains. But seeing behind the shiny laminated displays makes you think....

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Big Box Swindle

This book should be required reading for all elected officials....especially those in city and county government. Mitchell backs up her findings with documented studies. A fascinating look at just how manipulated we are as consumers....and we allow it to happen!

Well-researched book. Covers many aspects of the problem.

This book is scary. The author goes through many case studies and examples of the horrible things we're allowing to happen in our communities --- all in the name of promised "economic growth". I think every city planner should read this book. Anyone interested in saving what's left of our communities should read it. Even if you are skeptical of the author's conclusions, the copious bibliography can point you to the sources of her information and many other articles on the subject.

She sometimes repeats stories in different chapters, which can be annoying. However, I enjoyed reading the book because each time I had a questions, the author would answer it in subsequent paragraphs or chapters.

My copy of this book will be passed around to everyone that I can get to read it.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

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, Home Depot, Costco, and Staples to chains like Starbucks, Olive Garden, Blockbuster, 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, more than two hundred big-box development projects have been halted by groups of ordinary citizens, 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.

"What Nickel and Dimed did for the Wal-Mart worker, Mitchell does for the community threatened by mega-retailers."
?Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature

"Through rich, real-life stories, Stacy Mitchell reveals that those 'low prices' so proudly promoted by big-box behemoths come at an intolerably high cost to our communities and culture. Can we beat the behemoths? Yes! And Mitchell shows us the way. Read on, take heart, and take action!"
?Jim Hightower, national radio commentator, writer, public speaker, and best-selling author

"Stacy Mitchell provides an astonishing exposé of the broad-reaching implications of our shopping habits. Big-Box Swindle should be required reading for everyone who cares about America's main streets, as well as a call to arms for small businesses everywhere to organize and take action."
?Kennedy Smith, former director of the National Trust for Historic Preservation's National Main Street Center

"A well-researched and frightening book about an economic pandemic engulfing the United States . . . The big boxes are draining cities and towns of money and bankrupting neighborhood businesses that have long been the backbone of American communities. Big-Box Swindle is a book every citizen needs to read."
?Ben H. Bagdikian, author of The New Media Monopoly

"A great read! The big-box shadow looms over us mightily, but, as Stacy Mitchell documents, hundreds of communities have already saved themselves. She tells us how they did it and firmly invites us to step forward into the light. Change-a-lujah!"
?Reverend Billy, leader of the Church of Stop Shopping

"Mitchell's new book, Big-Box Swindle, is a devastating critique of the social impact of big retailers on American life."
?Guardian, interview in December 6th issue

"In the muckraking tradition of "Fast Food Nation" and "Nickel and Dimed," this is a searing indictment of the impact of behemoth retailers (Wal-Mart, Costco, Best Buy, et al.) on this country, its landscape and small towns, as well as the global marketplace. An independent business activist from Maine fills this urgent book with eye-openers on every page, including many trenchant examples from the Northwest."
?John Marshall, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"Big-Box Swindle" is an eye-opener, especially as South Mississippians decide how to rebuild the Gulf Coast." ?Sun Herald, Biloxi, MS, article in the December 31st issue

"This book is a valuable read for anyone who covers growth and development and the impacts of large businesses . . . Feisty and controversial."
?Society of Environmental Journalists, review in the Winter 2006 issue

Stacy Mitchell is a senior researcher with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. A regular speaker and adviser to communities on retail development and independent business, she is the author of The Hometown Advantage and chairs the American Independent Business Alliance. She lives in Portland, Maine.

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