Institute for Local Self-Reliance Launches 'Big Box Tool Kit'

This week, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) announced the launch of its Big Box Tool Kit, a new online resource for citizens groups working to stop sprawling big-box development, change their community's land use and economic development policies, and expand locally owned businesses. ILSR is a nonprofit organization providing research, analysis, and innovative policy solutions for building healthy communities and strong local economies.

Stacy Mitchell, senior researcher for ILSR, and author of Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America's Independent Businesses, (Beacon, coming in November 2006), and The Home Town Advantage: How to Defend Your Main Street Against Chain Stores ... and Why It Matters (ILSR), told BTW via e-mail, "We built the site with three purposes in mind. One was to provide citizens with the resources they need to be effective advocates of curbing corporate retail expansion in their communities. The second was to help all of these grassroots groups connect to one another and see themselves (and be seen by the media) as part of a growing national movement, which is what the map section of the site achieves."

Mitchell said the third goal is perhaps the most important, and that is "to encourage groups fighting Wal-Mart or Borders or some other chain development not to disband after the fight, but to keep working on proactive initiatives -- changing their local land use policies, starting a buy local campaign, building a retail incubator, and so on."

On the homepage of Big Box Tool Kit website, a user will find links to five sections that provide tips for stopping sprawl, from how to stop a big box store from opening, to educating neighbors, to building alternatives to big boxes in a town. There are also fact sheets that can be downloaded and distributed, summaries of key studies, links to experts, kits for implementing local ordinances, a Q&A, and more.

The site also includes an interactive map showing more than 200 communities where grassroots groups are working on this issue. Booksellers who are part of a local group but not currently listed on the website can click the "Join Our Network" link on the Map page.

For more information on the Tool Kit, e-mail [email protected].