Corporate Plunder is a very Serious Problem in America
Why should we shop local first?
The Cooler Connections™ Community Coupon Club helps to strengthen local economies by supporting locally owned businesses. We do this by publishing the Special Offers Bulletin Board and making it fun and profitable for shoppers to shop locally first!
Several studies have shown that when you buy from an independent, locally owned business, rather than a nationally owned chain, significantly more of your money is circulated back into your local community.
Some studies indicate that for every $100 spent at a locally owned business, $45 goes back into the community and its tax base. For every $100 spent at a national chain store, only $14 comes back into our local communities. A study commissioned by the Andersonville Development Corporation, found that locally owned businesses generate 70 percent more local economic impact per square foot than chain stores.
Another study showed that a new chain store in Ohio was simply shifting 84% of the annual gross sales that it did, away from local existing merchants.
National chains sometimes have pricing and selection related advantages but the long term damage they do to local communities is alarming. The "chaining" of America is proceeding at a staggering pace 11,000 local pharmacies have failed since 1990. Local hardware stores are losing ground, while two chains now control more than one-quarter of the market. Independent bookstores have seen their market share decline from 58 percent in 1972 to just 17 percent today. Blockbuster rents one out of every three videos. Starbucks has 2,200 outlets nationwide. One firm, Wal-Mart, controls fully 7 percent of all consumer spending.
That’s the bad news. The good news is that, dismal as the trends are, they are not inevitable. Across the country, citizens are beginning to fight back. They’re packing city council and planning board meetings, demanding that chains be denied zoning and building permits, and rewriting local land use rules to protect homegrown businesses and the unique character of their communities. It’s a movement that has drawn support from a broad base: consumer advocates, historic preservationists, neighborhood activists, environmentalists, independent business owners, and a growing group of planners and policymakers.
To learn more about the what large chains are doing to local economies and how you can help to change the trend, check out the following links for additional information.
http://www.newrules.org/retail/smfighting.html
http://reclaimdemocracy.org/independent_business/local_business_benefits.html
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2005/12/05/what_to_do_about_walmart.php
http://www.newrules.org/retail/
http://www.sconnect.org/thinklocal/why/
http://www.sfloma.org/local.htm
http://www.organicconsumers.org/btc.htm
http://www.livingeconomies.org/localfirst/whylocalfirst
http://www.livingeconomies.org/
http://www.amiba.net/pressroom/metro_iba_joins_movement_5.17.05.html
http://www.staylocal.org/why_shop_local.html
http://home.netcom.com/~symbios/buylocal.html
http://www.localfirst.com/why/
http://www.publicradio.org/tools/media/player/news/features/2005/05/16_zdechlikm_localbiz
This is a great blog someone wrote about Walmart He as created a great banner!
We want to encourage you to shop responsibly and always support locally owned businesses when you can. To view online coupons from local businesses, join our FREE Community Coupon Club and get a monthly listing of special offers from locally owned businesses, click here.
