Local First urges Utahns to shop at small, independent businesses

SALT LAKE CITY — Big-box retailers like to boast that they have more of everything all of the time, but being in the neighborhood doesn't mean they're local.

That's the bottom-line message of Utah organization Local First's 10-day celebration of independent businesses Thursday to July 4. It is meant to draw people's attention to "local first" buying as a way to build the local economy.

Low prices have drawn the masses away from Main Street shops, and in the process have given downtowns a kind of toothless grin in the shadow of ubiquitous mega-stores.

Local First organizers know big-box retailers are here to stay. Their "beat everybody else's price" approach has captured the consumers' hearts, but those cheap prices have hidden costs, literally and in the well-being of the neighborhoods or communities into which they move, Matt Monson, coordinator of the Local First public awareness campaign, said Monday.

"The more big boxes, the fewer local shops and products has been the rule of thumb," Monson said.

But that's not necessarily the case any longer, he said. Some smaller shops do close in the wake of a new Walmart or Lowe's or other retailer moving in, but most keep their store windows up and keep going, he said.

With the economy on everyone's mind, the one constant both nationally and locally is that things come to a grinding halt if consumers aren't consuming, Stacy Mitchell, one of the country's leading "local firsters" and author of "Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America's Independent Businesses," said Monday.

Mitchell, who is scheduled to speak at several events over the 10 days, believes public support for small, independent businesses might be coming back and will be stronger than ever.

People have had enough of the big-box swindle, she said, adding that swindle is the correct term for what happens in communities where the mega-stores locate. Most people believe they are being prudent shoppers by going to the big chain retailers and that the big, new stores are adding to economic growth, prosperity and jobs. But there are huge hidden costs, including a market slanted in their favor, thanks to tax breaks and government policy that has fostered big retailers while undermining independent businesses, she said.

"The fact is big-box stores eliminate more jobs than they create in a community," she said. They also impose very high costs on local governments, and in some cases, the costs actually exceed the amount of tax revenue coming from the new store, she said.

The top 10 retail chains 10 years ago had 15 percent of the market. Today, they have 30 percent, she said. Every category is now dominated by two or three companies.

"And, of course, Walmart dominates them all," she said. "Walmart captures one out of every $10 that Americans spend in retail stores. Walmart is the largest grocer in the country. They sell more toys, clothing, CDs, jewelry, furniture and a host of other products than any other retailer in the country. Over that big-box boom period, we've lost tens of thousands of independent businesses, a die-off that is unprecedented in history."

For more information, visit www.localfirst.org.

e-mail: jthalman@desnews.com