"Big-Box Swindle" author at Rainbow Blossom

[Robin Garr]

"The Big Box Swindle" is a book that everyone ought to read if you have any interest at all in the war that the mega-corporations are waging against quality independend local businesses. Rainbow Blossom is hosting an event on this and related issues later this month:

Event: Buy Local First!
Date: Sunday, January 27, 2008
Time: 3 PM Location: Rainbow Blossom St. Matthews Market - 3738 Lexington Road

<b>BUY LOCAL FIRST and the Big-Box Swindle ... </b>

Join Louisville Independent Business Alliance (LIBA), founders of Keep Louisville Weird, as they present Buy Local First. Featuring Stacy Mitchell - senior researcher with the Institute of Self-Reliance and author of Big-Box Swindle - this dynamic presentation will be followed by a panel discussion.

Panelists will include: Congressman John Yarmuth; DeVone Holt, director of West Louisville Development for GLI; and John Timmons, founding LIBA member and owner of EarX-Tacy Records.

To learn more about LIBA and their mission, visit http://www.keeplouisvilleweird.org

For more information about Stacy and Big-Box Swindle , visit http://www.bigboxswindle.com

Thanks for the information. Something of interest to me and will be planning on attending.

"...the Institute of Self-Reliance...

That struck me as funny. If you are indeed self-reliant, why would you need an institute?

I gotta check out that one.

[Robin Garr]

I gotta check out that one.

Cynic!

More seriously, though, I don't know about this context, but back in the early '90s when I was working for a national non-profit and writing my book about innovative solutions to hunger and poverty, "self-reliance" was a big deal, referring specifically to the old concept of "teaching people to fish" rather than giving them fish. It was a pretty widespread concept, and a lot of local, regional and national non-profits were involved in it.

Thanks for the information. Something of interest to me and will be planning on attending.

It does sound very interesting. Ms. Mitchell is actually affiliated with a group called the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Their apparent mission is the subject of many discussions here. I don't think I can make the Rainbow Blossom event, but I'm buying the book.

Institute's website here

Did anyone else make it to this today? It was a pretty interesting presentation and forum afterwards

My husband went -- he was very energized by it.

I enjoyed it, very informative. I wish we had a little more time for questions though.

Summer Auerbach from the rainbow Blossom deserves a pat on the back for setting that up, along with Julie Purcel, Mike Mays and John Timmons from Keep Louisville weird.

learning about how important and beneficial local business is to a healthy city was a real eye opener and inspiring. I can't wait to read the book.

Great way to spend a Sunday afternoon in the community.

Well done Rainbow Blossom.

I thought the Q & A portion was rather short as well. I would have enjoyed more conversation rather than hearing their "forum" remarks, but I guess a little extra time would have helped.

Kudos to Rainbow for hosting the event. Personally I am interested in the LIBA group, but I am not sure what, if anything they are doing in Southern Indiana yet.

I, too, felt the Q & A was too short. There is obviously a lot of interest in this issue and I hope conversations will start in many venues around town after this one. After the discussion was over I talked to Mike Mays about downtown development and how it ties into the need to support our independents. I would love to see Heine Bros. (or any of the other excellent local roasters) move into spots downtown and keep out the Starbucks sludge. He agreed, and said the city is actually very supportive of local businesse - but it's hard to compete with the power and money the big boys have.

I felt vindicated for my questioning in these forums the delight so many feel for the foodie equivalents of Big-Boxes: McCormick & Schmick's, etc. (ahh, folks, don't try to tell me upscale chains don't undermine local economies the way po' folks' places do. Money leaves town. Final)

Every time a national chain comes to town, we lose a little notch of what keeps us from being Anytown USA (a phrase that popped up a good deal in yesterday's conversation). Louisville has 'soul' - the way New Orleans, San Francisco, Chicago, Memphis do - and we want to be just big enough that more folks come visit to feel that soul. Tourists and conventioners won't really arrive and say, "I don't recognize any of these names. I just won't eat." Do people do that in cities with soul? I don't think so. They take in the local color.

Keep the color.

And the fact is, Cordish, who is all balls and no taste, will supply the folks looking for the familiar if they're out there. Let's just surround and contain him and that idea.

I don't think it's possible or wise to keep all chains out of our city but I wish we could get rid of some of the larger retail stores.

Some of the stats that Stacy was talking about such as Local Hardware stores and even bookstores coming back was encouraging.

Here's some coverage from CJ

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbc ... 8801280410

Of course it's not possible or wise. We couldn't stop the juggernauts if we wanted to, and, to be honest, if I had a button that would stop all incursions of chains in town, I wouldn't push it. It's just a matter of emphasis. I would love to see a big public debate about the direction of the city. We're at a cusp, at a point where decisions can still be made. To me the question is framed this way: Do we get big, famous, and predictable, or control our growth (not stop) and stay interesting? The debate as to how much big and recognizible stuff we need - possibly to support the local and weird, possibly not - and how much we need to nudge and subsidize the independent - is very, very important. If we don't debate it, things... possibly ugly things... will happen.

I think you are bang on right Ken. We need to get involved and instead of jumping through hoops for big companies we need to get a voice and make them comply with what the city wants. LIBA looks like a good start.

Just by controlling the size of the stores they build and the leases they sign could make a big difference.

Perhaps Metro could get involved and run a campaign promoting all local businesses too, by name. Or educating Louisville , who are pretty savvy any way on the benefits of local business.

Or how about John Yarmuth taking this to a national level?

I started reading the book last night.

When I first saw your post about this book, I had to stop myself from jumping to Amazon to buy it. Then, on the way home from work I almost pulled in to the former Hawley-Cooke (Borders now??) on B'town Road. Seeing the irony in that, I drove farther in and finally bought the beast at Carmichael's (a locally owned shop).

That's very inspiring, Jay. Due props aiming at you.