1 May 2002

Local Bookstore Files Antitrust Suit Against Chains

by | Date: 1 May 2002 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

The now defunct Intimate Bookshop of North Carolina has filed suit against Barnes & Noble and Borders Books alleging that the chains used their market power to pressure publishers for special discounts and terms unavailable to other retailers. According to documents filed in the case by Intimate’s attorney, Carl Person, the chains received an effective discount of 60 percent off the cover price, compared to only about 40-46 percent given to independent bookstores. … Read More
1 May 2002

Wal-Mart Developer’s Tactics Questioned in New Orleans

by | Date: 1 May 2002 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Rumors of a citizens lawsuit are beginning to circulate in New Orleans less than a month after the city council approved a 200,000 square foot suburban-style Wal-Mart supercenter. The 17-acre development will be situated along Tchoupitoulas Street in the Lower Garden District, a historic neighborhood wedged between a bend in the Mississippi River and downtown.… Read More
1 May 2002

Arcata Prohibits Forumula Restaurants

by | Date: 1 May 2002 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

In mid-May, the city council of Arcata, California voted 4-to-1 to enact a citywide cap on the number formula restaurants. The measure must pass a second reading on June 5. It will become law 30 days later. The ordinance defines a formula restaurant as one that shares the same design, menu, trademark, and other characteristics with twelve or more other establishments. The ordinance bars a formula restaurant from locating within the city unless it is replacing an existing formula restaurant at the same location. … Read More
1 May 2002

Ocean Beach Planning Board Endorses Formula Business Ban

by | Date: 1 May 2002 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Six weeks after an advisory referendum won broad support from residents, the Ocean Beach, California, planning board voted 8-to-4 in early May to recommend that the city council adopt an ordinance banning all formula restaurants and retail businesses.

Ocean Beach is a neighborhood of San Diego with a population of about 15,000. Each of the city’s neighborhoods has its own master plan and elected planning board.

… Read More
1 May 2002

San Francisco Mayor Vetoes Big Box Law

by | Date: 1 May 2002 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown vetoed an ordinance to require greater scrutiny of big box development. The measure passed the Board of Supervisors on a 7-to-4 vote in March. Eight votes are needed to override a mayoral veto.

The citywide ordinance would have required retail development projects larger than 50,000 square feet to undergo an impact review and obtain a conditional use permit before proceeding.

… Read More
1 May 2002

Austin Independent Business Alliance Takes Off

by | Date: 1 May 2002 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Steve Bercu, owner of Book People, a large independent bookstore in Austin, Texas, has been increasingly concerned about the decline of the city’s homegrown businesses. Like the rest of the country, Austin has seen as steady influx of national chains. Meanwhile, the local businesses so central to the city’s sense of place and character are disappearing. About a year-and-a-half ago, Bercu learned about the Boulder Independent Business Alliance (BIBA) in Boulder, Colorado and decided to replicate the approach in Austin. … Read More
2 Mar 2002

Oregon County Bans Big Box Stores

by | Date: 2 Mar 2002 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

In late January, after more than two hours of mostly favorable public testimony, the Board of Commissioners in Hood River County, Oregon voted unanimously to bar new retail stores over 50,000 square feet. The new ordinance also establishes a design review process for new retail buildings between 25,000 and 50,000 square feet. The ordinance applies to land that lies outside the Hood River town limits, but is still within the community’s urban growth boundary.… Read More

1 … 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 … 128