"Think Outside The Box"

Kevin Coolidge

You ever take one of those personality/psychology tests online? They’re fun and a great time killer. Me? My psychological profile came back “resourceful independent”. It makes me think I’d have been better off in the CIA, but hey, even writers have ethics. But I’m from a small town in rural Pennsylvania and being independent and resourceful kind of goes with the territory. I guess that’s why I like the small businesses of Wellsboro so much, because to operate a small business, you have to be resourceful and independent by nature.

That’s why my stomach did a flip-flop when I heard about the proposed Lowe’s coming to Mansfield. Mansfield has already experienced the “Wal-Mart Effect” and you can see for yourself what it has done to the downtown. That’s why I finally got around to reading Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America’s Independent Businesses by Stacy Mitchell. So, I could see what may be in store for Tioga County.

In less than two decades, large retail chains have become the most powerful corporations in America. Mitchell traces the dramatic growth of mega-retailers--from big boxes like Home Depot, Borders, Costco and Staples to chains like Starbucks and Blockbuster—and the decline of independent businesses. She draws examples from virtually every state in the Union.

The big chains appear to bring communities economic growth, new jobs and tax revenue. This book argues that these apparent gains are illusory, and shows how mega-retailers impose a variety of hidden costs on society and contributing far less to our economic well being than it appears. Although a new big-box store on the edge of town may appear to be growth, it is not. The vast majority of these stores are built not to satisfy increased consumer demand, but because a chain sees a predatory opportunity to displace sales at other businesses. As local stores close, many communities end up losing as many or more retail jobs as they gain from the new superstore.

The impact on the local economy does not end there according to Mitchell. When chains displace local business, dollars that circulated locally cease to do so. Independent retailers bank at local banks, advertise in local newspapers, shop at local shops. Corporate chains require very little in the way of local goods or services. Instead, most of the money that consumers spend at a big-box store is siphoned out of the community’s economy.

Many of the big-box stores and shopping centers that open each year are built with the help of public subsidies. These giveaways take many forms: free or reduced-price land; property tax breaks; sales tax rebates, and tax abatement. Most of these subsidies are provided locally by cities and towns, and occasionally even counties, though state and even federal tax dollars may be involved. The logic behind these giveaways is that the new stores will generate enough new tax revenue to more than cover the subsidy. But such cost-benefit calculation only works if one ignores the full range of costs, notably lost sales and property tax revenue from local business that go out.

So, just what can I do about “Goliath”? Mitchell catalogues diverse ways indie-minded consumers can fight back, by campaigning against government subsidies to big-box stores, advocating for sales tax collection on Internet sales as well as stronger antitrust enforcement. Visible citizens' coalitions can fight big-box expansion, especially if communities fine-tune their land use policies. The big-box trend, she suggests, can be countered by increasing public awareness.

This book increased my awareness. Many of these things I all ready suspected, but the easy to read format, made it very clear. Me? I’m voting with my dollar. I’m going to The Hornet’s Nest where they already know that I don’t want lettuce on my BLT, and I’m going to the local building centers that let me take back any extra hardware after I finish those book shelves, or to Garrison’s who knows I don’t wear a tie often enough to remember that Windsor knot. Hmmm, maybe I can’t slay “Goliath”, but I can give him a black eye…

Comments, questions, your favorite sandwich, drop me an email at frommyshelf@epix.net

Kevin Coolidge