Wal-Mart cracks the Chicago market Monday, May 31, 2004 Continuing its move into larger urban markets, Wal-Mart successfully managed a change in local zoning laws to open the way for its first store in Chicago. Wal-Mart's partial victory included only one of the two stores it hopes to develop. Read more. The project in Chicago is proceeding, despite a good economic report that raises serious questions about whether Wal-Mart (and by extension other Big Box retailers) really improve the economic development landscape. Here are some excerpts from the report from the University of Illinois at Chicago: "This study forecasts that Wal-Mart will displace more jobs and income than it creates. Generally, the entrance of new general merchandise stores in an urban community simply displaces existing economic activity in the service area and only rarely adds a considerable number of jobs and income to the city. In the case of Wal-Mart, the fact that it uses substantially fewer employees to generate the same amount of sales as its competitors means that it will displace more jobs than it creates. In regard to the fiscal impact, while it is estimated that the proposed store would generate a net gain in taxes for the City of Chicago, the net annual gain is minimal." Download the UIC report. Chicgo is not alone. Salt Lake City and Minneapolis are facing the same issue. posted by Ed Morrison |		This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. links Some Background on EDPro Weblog The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it. One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information. So, spread the word...Share the knowledge. Tell a friend about EDPro Weblog. If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site: Here's the link if you are a bloglines subscriber: Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking. Background on Ed Morrison Download some background information on me here.

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