Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America's Independent Businesses
by Stacy Mitchell
published
2006
by Beacon Press
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binding
Hardcover, 318 pages
isbn
0807035009
(isbn13: 9780807035009)
description
An expert's in-depth exploration of the enormous impact of mega-retailers-and what communities and independent businesses can do
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 111)
Read in February, 2008
recommends it for:
anyone who wants to know why they should shop local
It's been a part of my upbringing, having grown up on Cape Cod, the daughter of mainstream hippies, that larger retailers are to be avoided, but I never really thought about why that might be; it was as fundamental a truth as exercise being good for me and junk food being bad. So I was already convinced of the message of this book when I read it: that big-box retailers do more harm to local (and the American) economy than they help. This book contains many, many examples and illustrations of ...more
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I'm not sure how anyone could shop at Walmart, or any big-box store, after reading this book. Once you peel back all of the stinky, rotten layers of how these corporations do business and how they destroy the fabric and identity of so many communities when they move into town, you realize how these stores really cost us all more in the long run, despite the seductive promise of low prices. Mitchell does an excellent job of systematically knocking down every argument in favor of big-box stores. N...more
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Read in October, 2008
I found this book to be eye-opening as to some of the economic and social ills associated with "big box" chain stores. It definitely has me thinking about my own shopping preferences and how those might be changed. That said though, I believe that the author places too much of the blame for the problems she describes on the Big Box stores themselves. It seems to me that the big box retail phenomenon is as much a symptom of broader changes in our society over the past 60 years (or mo...more
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2 comments
Read in January, 2006
recommends it for:
people who shop at big-box retailers or those who refuse to
FUCK WAL-MART. I've always said that and I constantly read/watch reasons why that statement makes sense. I have never shopped at a Wal-Mart and I rather get punched in the face than do so. And I rather pay more money elsewhere...yup, I am an indie kind of guy. Good read, great facts, easy on the eyes, and once again Fuck Wal-Mart. Shopping there is just hurting everyone around you. SALES are founded on dead kittens, old peoples tears, and gun pointed at the working man. Eh...uhhh...just r...more
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Very well written and researched book that highlights many ways that large retailers gain an unfair advantage over small business owners. I worked at WAL*MART for a number of months and no know idea the many underhanded tricks they used to gain an advantage. Many of these tactics should be illegal are illegal in many states and other countries but WAL*MART uses it's clout to prevent laws from being enacted and to reverse laws that constrain it.
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Read in June, 2007
I borrowed this one from the UHD Library. I liked it, and I also recommended it to my students, crossposting from my blog to the student resource blog I maintain. Wal-Mart and Big-Boxes are a popular freshman composition topic here, thus the recommendation.
Here is a link to the note I wrote about it in my personal blog:
itinerantlibrarian.blogspot.co...
Here is a link to the note I wrote about it in my personal blog:
itinerantlibrarian.blogspot.co...
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Read in August, 2007
So far, this book has been a poignant critique of the big-box store boom in America, and what we are trading in order to shop at these stores: our local independent businesses, our greenspace, and our feeling of place. I'm only a few chapters in....
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Read in October, 2008
Good information and ideas, but not the best organization.
We have it in the SCCS library, if you're interested.
We have it in the SCCS library, if you're interested.
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Read in June, 2007
This book forced me to think about my shopping habits. It is frustrating to be surrounded by big box stores, and to see small independent shops close. I will go out of my way to support a local business as a result of reading this book.
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Every time a person mentions Amazon, Borders, or B&N, it makes me cringe. Running an independent bookstore in the 21st century is truly a labor of love. So this is not bedtime reading, it stirs me up too much to get a good night's sleep.
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Read in May, 2007
Big Box stores control our lives! Really - I was freaked out after reading this and vowed never to shop at any of the big stores - it worked for about a week. This book will make you think and maybe change your shopping habits.
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Read in February, 2008
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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