Wal-Mart Watch (WMW), which bills itself as the nation's premier Wal-Mart reform online presence, recently announced the launch of "Higher Expectations Week: A National Week of Action," an initiative to be held from November 13 to November 19, 2005. The week kicks off a nationwide WMW campaign to make Wal-Mart "a more responsible corporate citizen all year-round."

San Francisco is in transition, said Neal Sofman, owner of A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books.

AMIBA Invites All Independent Retailers and Business Alliances to Participate

On Friday, September 16, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., those attending the Southeast Booksellers Association (SEBA) Fall Trade Show can learn more about the challenges and opportunities common to all independent Main Street businesses.

This year, Emporia, Kansas -- the home of about 30,000 people, as well as the Town Crier Bookstore -- was the recipient of a Great American Main Street Award from the National Trust Main Street Center.

Local retailers and independent business alliances across the country marked Independence Day 2005 with weeklong celebrations highlighting how independent businesses help make each community unique and vibrant.

The American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA) -- a national outreach networking hub and resource center for independent business alliances (IBAs) and independent businesses -- has once again declared July 1 through July 7 Independents Week. The second annual national weeklong promotion serves to educate the public on the importance of shopping at local, independent businesses.

The Village of Warwick, New York, may not look like the kind of town in urgent need of an independent business alliance: With a burgeoning population and tourist trade, and no chain store or mall near Main Street, the idyllic downtown looks to be the picture of economic health. However, a closer study of Warwick reveals a more foreboding picture. While the downtown may not host any big box stores or malls, the town is "encircled by them," said Michael McDermott of Warwick's The Bookstore.

When Hawley-Cooke, Louisville, Kentucky's largest independent bookstore, was sold to Borders Books & Music on August 18, 2003, it sent a tremor through the town's retail community, a signal to perceptive local business owners that the commercial landscape could be shifting ... and not for the better. Less than a month after the Border's sale, John Timmons of ear X-tacy record store met with other "similarly concerned business owners" and in November, he quietly launched the "Keep Louisville Weird" campaign.