The Small-Mart Revolution

The Small-Mart Revolution

Released August 2007
Publisher(s): Berrett-Koehler Publishers
ISBN: 9781576755426

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Book description

Defenders of massive multinational chains like Wal-Mart and Fortune 500 big business argue that, like it or not, there is no alternative. Their huge scale and international reach, they claim, make them more efficient and profitable, better able to deliver value, and an uncontested boon for the job market. According to the big boys, locally owned small businesses are simply quaint remnants of the past, unable to compete in the global economy.

But in The Small-Mart Revolution, Michael Shuman shows that the benefits these mega-stores and huge corporations supposedly deliver to communities are illusory. Crunch the numbers and you'll find that locally owned businesses turn out to be much more reliable generators of good jobs, economic growth, tax dollars, community wealth, charitable contributions, social stability, and political participation. Unlike their global competitors, they do this without massive tax breaks and subsidies that often put local economies in a permanent hole. Plus, contrary to popular belief, local businesses are competitive with the multinationals--and gaining ground every day. Shuman highlights numerous trends that are making the old "bigger is better" economies of scale argument obsolete, and he describes a variety of innovative strategies these businesses are using to successfully compete with their over-sized competitors. He also shows how consumers, investors, and policymakers can support their own communities by "going local." The Small-Mart Revolution offers a robust alternative to "go-go" globalization, one that nurtures the creative capacities of local businesses and enables communities everywhere to thrive.

Table of contents

  1. COVER PAGE
  2. TITLE PAGE
  3. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  4. FOREWORD
  5. INTRODUCTION: FROM WAL-MART TO SMALL-MART
    1. Bargains
    2. The Dark Side
    3. The Small-Mart Revolution
    4. Small-Mart Nation
    5. Origins
    6. A Vision, Not a Religion
  6. PART ONE: THE GATHERING GALE
    1. ONE: WRECKONOMICS
      1. The Iron Lady
      2. Wreckonomics 101
      3. Elephant-Mouse Casserole
      4. TINA’s Reign of Error
      5. Whose Destiny?
    2. TWO: THE LOIS ALTERNATIVE
      1. ‘Local’ Is What Goes Around
      2. The Local Majority
      3. Swing LO, Sweet Business
      4. What the Meaning of IS Is
      5. Myriad Benefits of LOIS
      6. The Challenges of Social Responsibility
    3. THREE: AMAZING SHRINKING MACHINES
      1. Many “Right” Scales
      2. Eight Deglobalizing Trends
      3. Why the Urge to Merge?
      4. Efficiency Is Not Destiny
  7. PART TWO: THE SMALL-MART PATRIOTS
    1. FOUR: CONSUMERS
      1. Localizing Your Household
      2. Localization Numbers
      3. Making Local Shopping Easier
      4. A Purchasing Ladder
      5. Choose Wisely
    2. SMALL-MART REVOLUTION CHECKLIST: TWENTY-SEVEN ITEMS FOR CONSUMERS
      1. Best Places to Localize Spending (AND OFTEN SAVE MONEY)
      2. Tools to Assist Local Purchasing
    3. FIVE: INVESTORS
      1. Starving the Bankasaurs
      2. Thank God for Mississippi!
      3. Revolutionizing Capital Markets
      4. A Real Ownership Society
    4. SMALL-MART REVOLUTION CHECKLIST: FOURTEEN ITEMS FOR INVESTORS
    5. SIX: ENTREPRENEURS
      1. The Local Niche
      2. Eco-Thinking
      3. LOIS Collaboration
      4. Joint LOIS Ventures
      5. LOIS Support Enterprises
      6. TINA Collaboration
      7. The Green Bay Chickens
    6. SMALL-MART REVOLUTION CHECKLIST: TWELVE ITEMS FOR ENTREPENEURS
    7. SEVEN: POLICYMAKERS
      1. Studying the Economic Plumbing
      2. Defunding TINA
      3. A New Public Policy Agenda
      4. Anti-TINA Ordinances
      5. High-Road Business Communities
      6. Global Trade Politics
      7. A Declaration for Independents
      8. Taking Back City Hall
    8. SMALL-MART REVOLUTION CHECKLIST: THIRTY ITEMS FOR POLICYMAKERS
      1. Daily Mantra
      2. Local Studies
      3. Local Training
      4. Local Purchasing
      5. Local Investing
      6. Local Public Policy
    9. EIGHT: COMMUNITY BUILDERS
      1. Local First
      2. “Not That Far Out”
      3. Remarks for Burt Symposium
      4. The Worksphere Initiative for the Katahdin Region
    10. SMALL-MART REVOLUTION CHECKLIST: FIVE ITEMS FOR COMMUNITY BUILDERS
    11. NINE: GLOBALIZERS
      1. Revolutionary Poverty Alleviation
      2. The Revolutionarily Peaceful Future
      3. Community-Lifting Revisited
    12. SMALL-MART REVOLUTION CHECKLIST: EIGHT ITEMS FOR PROMOTING THE LOCAL, GLOBALLY
  8. APPENDIX A: THE FALL AND RISE OF SMALL-SCALE COMPETETIVENESS
  9. APPENDIX B: THE SCALE OF EXISTING BUSINESS BY PAYROLL
  10. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  11. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  12. NOTES
  13. INDEX
  14. ORGANIZATIONS
    1. Training & Development Corporation (TDC)
    2. CommunityFood.com
    3. Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE)
  15. ABOUT BERRETT-KOEHLER PUBLISHERS
    1. A BK Currents Book
  16. BE CONNECTED

Product information

  • Title: The Small-Mart Revolution
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: August 2007
  • Publisher(s): Berrett-Koehler Publishers
  • ISBN: 9781576755426