3c hapter - Index of

The Local Imperative 53
other developments to their areas—to the tune of an estimated
$50 billion a year. The situation is especially distressing—and
visible—in retail, as chain stores continue to displace the independent
merchants that have long served their communities. The big
boxes are viewed as lucrative prizes to many city and town offi cials,
who offer major tax concessions, real estate deals, and taxpayerfunded
infrastructure improvements to lure them.
Good Jobs First, a policy research center, has tallied more
than $1 billion in development subsidies granted to Walmart
stores and distribution centers alone since the early 1990s, including
tax breaks, free or bargain land, and infrastructure assistance.
The group says the fi gure is likely conservative, since there are no
disclosure requirements and their research relied on published
reports. 13
The reward for all this lucre? Local jobs and tax revenues.
But the reality is often starkly different, as benefi ts fall far short of
promises.
The Big- Box Squeeze
Stacy Mitchell, a senior researcher at the New Rules Project, a program
of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, has written extensively
about the corrosive effects of big box stores. In her 2006
book Big Box Swindle, she details the hidden costs of these onestop-
shopping meccas and supersized chains, from Home Depot
to Target to Walmart. Instead of adding jobs to a region, over the
long term, net new jobs may be negative as local merchants across
a wide swath of specialties go out of business. Often, that means
replacing good- paying jobs and benefi ts with lower wage, parttime
work. (One study concluded that the opening of a Walmart
store can drive down wages in the entire county. 14 )
Given the low pay and part- time hours—a typical 34-hour
a week worker at Wal- Mart will make an estimated $19,200
a year—many big-box employees often cannot afford the healthcare
plans they are offered. 15 These workers are often among the
biggest users of taxpayer- funded health care. Massachusetts is one
of the few states that tracks public health- care usage by employer.