Tag Archives: big box retail

Should I care more that Walmart employees need to work on Thanksgiving?

By Mark | November 26, 2013

Earlier today, I shared with some friends that, in the whole scheme of things, I’m not terribly pissed about Walmart opening their doors at 6:00 PM on Thanksgiving day. I shared this thought after having read several posts condemning the retail giant for denying their employees the ability to enjoy the holiday with their families. […]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Local Business, Locally Owned Business, Observations, Other | Also tagged anti-consumerism, Black Friday, Buy Nothing Day, consumerism, Corporate Crime, Retail, Thanksgiving, Wal-Mart, Walmart, War on Thanksgiving | 33 Comments

Wal-Mart, instead of raising wages, asks their non-starving employees to donate food to those employees who are

By Mark | November 19, 2013

As we’ve discussed in the past, Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest retailer, relies heavily upon the American taxpayer to subsidize its “everyday low prices,” and, of course, it’s enormous corporate profits. Not only does the company routinely, as part of its standard human resources protocol, direct its poorly-paid employees to various state and federal assistance programs, […]

Posted in Observations, Other, Uncategorized | Also tagged Cleveland, Corporate Crime, Costco, culture jamming, food stamps, guerrilla theater, living wage, Mark's big ideas, Retail, Wal-Mart, Walmart | 10 Comments

Ypsi/Arbor Exit Interview: Newcombe Clark

By Mark | April 10, 2013

A week or so ago, in front of an audience at Conor O’Neills, I had the pleasure of conducting a live exit interview with Ann Arbor-born commercial real estate broker turned University of Michigan MBA Newcombe Clark, who will soon be leaving Michigan for Chicago. As there was still a great deal that we didn’t […]

Posted in Ann Arbor, History, Local Business, Locally Owned Business, Special Projects | Also tagged affordable housing, aging population, Ann Arbor City Council, Ann Arbor history, Ann Arbor problems, Annarbour, Babo, Best Buy, Borders, brain drain, Briarwood Mall, car free, change, Chicago, childhood, childhood memories, complaining about things that can't be changed, construction, craftsmanship, density, design porn, development, Discount Records, Encore Records, excellence, exit interviews, fear of change, Five Guys, Fleetwood Diner, Gandy Dancer, Grange, Iggy Pop, India, Kerrytown, land speculation, Last Word, Leopold Bloom’s, Literati, lure of cities, Mani, Mark's Carts, mentorship, Michigan Theater, Mr. Flood’s Party, Mumbai, national chains, Ned Duke, Newcombe Clark, North Ashley, nostalgia, Ojibwa, our fragile downtown business ecosystem, Portlandia, Potbelly Sandwich Shop, poverty, protectionism, Pune, race, race and poverty, racial steering, real estate, rent, retail in Ann Arbor, rewriting history, Rock Paper Scissors, Ross Business School, segregation, Shaman Drum, shifting national demographics, shop local, Vault of Midnight, Vellum, Waterhill, West End Grill, yoga, Ypsi/Arbor Exit Interviews, Zingerman's | 47 Comments

Accelerating Community Capital (part one)… at the BALLE 2012 conference

By Mark | May 17, 2012

I spent the day in Grand Rapids, participating in a workshop on new models that are evolving for local businesses to raise capital from lenders, investors and donors, at the 10th annual conference of the Business Alliance for Living Local Economies (BALLE). What follow are my rough notes, for those of you who care about […]

Posted in Economics, entrepreneurism, Uncategorized | Also tagged Awaken Café, BALLE, biomimicry, Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, Capital Institute, Capitalism, Catskills, Co-op Power, co-ops, Common Market, cool local initiatives, Coop Power, credit unions, crowdfunding, CSA, Cutting Edge Capital, Direct Public Offerings, Don Shaffer, Equal Exchange, Erin Kilmer Neel, financial reform, financing local companies, general store, Harlem, investing, investing in the future, Jenny Kassan, Jobs Act, John Fullerton, JPMorgan Chase, liquidity, Little City Gardens, Local Economies Project, local economy, local investing, Localvesting, Lynn Benander, Marty Gay, Michael Shuman, Michelle Long, micro-financing, Move Your Money Project, move your money to a credit union, New World Foundation, Oakland, off-grid, personal finances, Port Townsend, Port Townsend LION, Quimper Mercantile Company, regenerative capitalism, resilience, resiliency, RSF Social Finance, SCOR, SEC, Securities and Exchange Commission, Slow Money, Small Company Offering Registration, South Bronx, startup investing, Sustainability, unaccredited investors, Washington State, what is wealth, White Dog Cafe | 12 Comments

Portland, Maine study shows dramatic impact of buying local

By Mark | December 28, 2011

I haven’t taken the time to look into the methodology of the study in any great detail, but, according to our friends at BALLE, the folks at the Maine Center for Economic Policy have completed a study showing that dollars spent at locally-owned businesses yield almost twice as much in the way of local economic […]