Stacy Mitchellis a regular speaker and advisor to communities on retail development and independent business. A senior researcher with theInstitute for Local Self-Reliance, she chairs the American Independent Business Alliance . Mitchell regularly contributes articles and commentaries to magazines and newspapers, and produces an acclaimed monthly email newsletter,The Hometown Advantage Bulletin. She lives in Portland, Maine
Prodigiously researched, lucidly written.--Marilyn Harris, BusinessWeek's SmallBiz <br> A compelling indictment of Wal-Mart and other 'big box' stores, based on numerous national examples. -- Publishers Weekly <br> Here is the definitive indictment of Wal-Mart and its ilk: how local retailers, family farmers, factory workers and democracy itself have been steamrolled by the illusion of big-box progress. Deftly weaving history, sociology and a crash course on retail economics with affectionate snapshots of tenacious entrepreneurs, Mitchell leaves us with an optimistic vision informed by promising new community initiatives. --Greg LeRoy, author of The Great American Jobs Scam and executive director of Good Jobs First <br> In the muckraking tradition of Fast Food Nation , this is a searing indictment of the impact of behemoth retailers . . . It illumina