Posted on 8-3-2003
Breaking
The Chains
When you spend $100 at the chain Borders Books & Music,
your purchase
creates only $13 worth of local economic activity. That same
$100 spent at
a locally owned book or record store generates $45, or more
than three
times as much local economic activity.
That's the conclusion of a new study conducted by Civic Economics
and
published by Liveable City in Austin, Texas. The study, "Economic
Impact
Analysis: A Case Study," examines the local economic impact
of two of
Austin's venerable independent businesses---Waterloo Records,
widely
considered to be the best music store in the nation, and Book
People, a
beloved, 32-year-old bookstore.
The study compares their contributions to the local economy
with the
economic return the community would receive from a typical Borders
store.
The study was prompted by plans to develop a retail complex
that will
include a 25,000-square-foot Borders outlet and a Whole Foods
store at the
same intersection where Waterloo and Book People are located.
The
development is slated to receive $2.1 million in public subsidies.
"This
analysis demonstrates a clear failure of public policy to steer
desirable
development at the site in question," the study concludes. "As
presently
configured, new development at the corner will yield a net loss
to the
local economy. Moreover, previous decisions have placed the
city in the
position of subsidizing such an outcome.
The study concludes that a typical Borders store generates $820,000
in
local economic activity, compared to $2.8 million generated
by Book People,
which is roughly the same physical size as Borders at 22,000
square feet.
Waterloo, which is smaller but has higher sales per square foot,
pumps $4.1
million into the Austin economy. Finally, the study looks at
the likely
competitive impact of the proposed Borders store. The study
estimates that
half of Borders' sales will be siphoned from Waterloo and Book
People.
"Redeveloping this corner is important, but it must be done
without hurting
the economy and nearby local businesses," declared Bill Spelman,
chair of
Liveable City. The group hopes the study will persuade Austin
to withdraw
public subsidies for the project.
For a copy of the Austin study, go to Liveable City at www.liveablecity.org
Buy Local Campaign Goes Political
The Greens will be launching a "Buy Local" campaign in April.
The first
public meeting will be held in Auckland, 12th March, followed
by a tour to
various locations throughout the country.
12 March - Auckland - 7:30pm - Fickling Convention Centre, 546
Mt Albert
Road, Three Kings, Auckland. Queries phone 361-5925 Speakers:
Green MP
Mike Ward & Warren Snow - Envision New Zealand
To find out more details about the public meetings in the following
locations (see next page - there are more locations that will
be added)
contact: Mike Ward 04 470 6891 mike.ward@parliament.govt.nz
Green's Buy
Local Campaign Tour: 14 April-Te Kuiti, 15 April-Morrinsville
, 22
April-Tauranga, 23 April-Rotorua, 24 April-Taupo. For more information
about the Green Buy Local vision: www.greens.org.nz/campaigns/buylocal/
UK Govt Rejects Big Box Stores
In a move that could derail big box development projects throughout
England, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has rejected a
bid by the
furniture chain Ikea to build a 300,000-square-foot store (seven
times the
size of a football field) outside the city of Stockport. Deputy
Prime
Minister Prescott said the proposed store violated several provisions
of
both national and local planning policy. Major factors included
the store's
impact on the vitality and viability of Stockport's downtown
and other
nearby town centres, and the fact that it would foster increased
automobile
usage.
Mr. Prescott declared that local authorities had not conducted
a
"sufficiently rigorous assessment of the likely economic impact
of the
proposed store." He said that Ikea's claim that the store will
bring more
traffic to Stockport's town centre was probably overstated and
unlikely to
offset the store's negative economic impacts on the downtown
and other
smaller towns nearby. Mr. Prescott suggested that Ikea substantially
reduce the size of its stores and locate them in or adjacent
to town
centres. He said the company's approach to retailing---building
massive
out-of-town stores primarily accessible by car---ran "counter
to the
Government's objectives to ensure sustainability and promote
social
inclusion."
Before approving out-of-town retail projects, local planners
must consider
the development's impact on the downtown's economic vitality,
potential to
attract new investment, mix of goods and services, visual character,
and
"role in the economic and social life of the community." Ikea
plans to
appeal the decision through the courts. Sprawl opponents, including
the
Council for the Protection of Rural England, hope the decision
will be
upheld and herald a stronger national commitment to maintaining
vibrant
local economies.
Big Boxes Trying To Swallow Pharmacies
The Retailers Association of New Zealand has mounted a fresh
campaign to
overturn pharmacists' control on owning chemist shops. The country's
largest general retailer, The Warehouse and supermarket heavyweight
Progressive Enterprises will be among submitters arguing for
a change to
the bill removing chemist shop ownership. The retailers claim
they will
offer consumers lower prices. However three recent surveys in
the US (see
links below) have found that independent pharmacies had lower
prescription
drug prices compared with chain drugstores, supermarkets and
mass
merchandisers like Wal-Mart.
A submission by Envision NZ was made to the Select Committee
on the Health
Practitioners Bill asking that the committee consider the wider
impacts of
allowing big chains to have in store pharmacies. Key points
in the
submission were as follows:
§ Pharmacies contribute to the overall health of the community
by being
local and providing services that chains never provide. Local
ownership
strengthens local economies. Economic decline leads to social
decline,
which in turn leads to the decline of people's health.
§ If the local pharmacy closes it will be the final deathblow
to many small
community shopping centres because they are very often the anchor
business
that keeps the other businesses going.
§ Claims by big chains that they will deliver cheaper prescription
drugs
are incorrect. Three recent surveys in the US have found that
independent
pharmacies had lower prescription drug prices compared with
chain drugstores.
"Why don't young people open up shops anymore?" Peter Kenyon,
Australian
Development Expert presentation to the Town Centre Association
New Zealand
Conference - Invercargill Dec 2002.
"People don't shop anymore. They go to The Warehouse. The whole
idea of
going to town has just gone out the door. I know people who
treat it as
entertainment. Instead of doing things on the weekend they just
go to The
Warehouse." Violet Hogan, Whangarei
"We seem to have got ourselves into an awful muddle. The local
service
station cannot fix a puncture but does offer hot bread, the
chemist offers
pickles and the supermarkets are going to sell petrol. Efficiency
comes
from division of labour. This is the rationale behind specialist
shops.
One has a wide range of choice and assistants who are sufficiently
knowledgeable to be able to give advice. However, soon we will
be limited
to warehouses, with just a couple of leading brands of best
sellers of each
particular product. The consumer will be denied both choice
and advice.
While such stores may be profitable, they are ultimately not
efficient from
the consumers' point of view." Maureen Coxhead - Manurewa, Auckland
(Letters to the Editor - NZ Herald)
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