During the summer of ‘06 the residents of Greenburgh, NY and Westchester County itself got word that a local theater of thirty four years would be closing its doors. To me it was hard to believe that the Fine Arts Cinema on Central Avenue would be forced to go out of business because the cost to remain on Central Avenue would be too costly for them. Though I never actually visited the theater, and I do feel guilty about that, I knew many people who did go there often. One of the last films I remember them showing was the academy award winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth featuring former vice president Al Gore. When first released, hardly any of the corporate owned chain cinemas in the county were showing the documentary, but the independent Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville and the Fine Arts Cinema in Greenburgh were.

Locally here in Hartsdale we also got the word that our local Barnes and Noble bookstore would be closing due to the high cost of rent and the issues they had with the condition of the building mainly concerning the repairs that were needed (this is what the staff told me). I’ve also heard of the troubles of the nation’s first ever Carvel ice cream store located in Hartsdale also having problems remaining in its location. If this landmark were allowed to close this too would be a major loss for the community.

All of these closings got me thinking about the businesses based in the area and their meaning to the community. This also got me thinking of the chain store versus independent ownership of retail businesses regionally. Though we did not want to see the B & N leave Hartsdale; it is a nationwide chain store with locations in White Plains and Yonkers. For them it did not really matter whether they opened or closed that location. They had no ties to the community of Hartsdale. They could still take in revenue from the other surrounding stores. That store had been there for a few decades I’m told, but that did not really matter. History did not matter. Granted that the factor of rent can have an effect on independent businesses and corporate chain stores alike, which would result in either one closing and leaving an area. We in the community spent a lot of time in that bookstore, it was what you would call a third place. A third place means a place that you visit often to unwind that is not work or home. What’s weird is that we took in a corporate owned store chain store and made it part of Hartsdale. Yet, why didn’t we have an independently owned bookstore/cafe within the village in the first place? What’s stopping someone from opening up one now?

One of the problems is that the cost for an independent small business to operate is very high. When chain stores come into a neighborhood it is extremely hard to compete with them because they have many advantages which attribute to them being able to lower their overhead and lower the prices of their goods and services. How can a locally owned and operated bookstore compete with a Barnes and Noble or Borders when they can use their buying power to purchase in bulk at lower cost to them, which then allows them to sell the new releases for ten dollars less? Eventually what can happen is a chain can become so powerful that they will sell at a low price and pass the cost off onto the supplier making them tighten their belts to do business with the chain store. They can even dictate to the supplier that products be sold at a certain price to them and not to anyone else. This is why outsourcing among suppliers has really taken off because it further reduces costs which allows them to supply the chain stores. As a global chain Wal-Mart has items that they can often sell at or below cost! They have items that they call “loss leaders”. Customers will buy a tube of toothpaste in which the corporation is taking a loss, but they can make it up on higher ticket items. What this also allows them to do is drive the local stores out of business because that tube of toothpaste which the local store is selling for one dollar, Wal-Mart is selling for sixty cents. Of course they can always raise prices once the competition is gone or keep them as “loss leaders”. Don’t forget your regular ole predatory pricing where you sell at a loss to drive out the competition and then raise them once they’re gone.

When I look at the village of Hartsdale near our Metro-North Railroad station; I’m happy to see that many of our small businesses are able to hold on. We have a mix of chain and independent. Although I was sorry that our IGA grocery store could not afford the rent and left, we have gained some new stores in its place like a fish and vegetable store. What concerns me is that the chains may eventually force out some of the smaller stores. For example we have an Eckerd chain pharmacy which directly competes with a local pharmacy. It also competes with the photography store because Eckerd also develops film. Not to mention that Eckerd does sell a small selection of grocery and household items which can compete with others too. We once had a local pharmacy on the Four Corners that was bought out by the pharmacy chain Duane Reade and I don’t want smaller stores bought out or forced to close. At the station we have a chain owned coffee house in Starbucks but I sure wished that we had an independent coffee house instead. In the village of Scarsdale, Katzenberg Cafe is now closed and a Starbucks is now in its place. In White Plains there was a Sassarino Cafe and a Java Bean who are now closed because of the Starbucks and B &N cafe (ironically it serves Starbucks brand coffee) which serves coffee and espresso. I like coffee and the mocha lattes, but that does not mean I want one corporation selling them everywhere. Yet, here I am forced to go these places because there aren’t other independents to patronize. There once was an independent bookstore on main street that has since closed due to the B & N in the White Plains City Center as well. The one thing in all these areas that seems to be able to eek out an existence are the restaurants but you need more than that to sustain the vibrancy and individuality of a local main street in a village, town, or city. I would not be surprised if the chain restaurants did not eventually drive them out as well.

The reasons for supporting independent small businesses are numerous. For one they bring variety. After a while you will get tired of having the same thing everywhere you go! You will get tired of seeing the same cookie-cutter homogenized model of a chain store no matter if you are in Larchmont or the Upper East Side! Secondly, the independents are more closely entwined with the community as a whole. They pay their fair share of taxes that support the local infrastructure and the schools, as opposed to the chains who often skirt their fiduciary responsibilities by shifting their profits offshore to avoid the IRS. The chains exploit the commons but don’t pay to play, they are stealing plain and simple. Local businesses are also more likely to donate and contribute to local causes and charities than the chains are. Lastly, local businesses are going to put their earnings back into the local economy by buying their goods and services from other local merchants. The corporations have no need to do this. Once the money comes in it is swept out to the main office in some other state.

Now as far as the Big-Box stores and the rest of the chains creating more jobs, that is simply not the case. Wal-Mart may hire 200 people but how many good paying jobs with benefits do they displace at the smaller businesses? In the long run you end up losing more jobs. There are many in Yonkers who want the Ridge Hill development because they feel that the development will create more jobs. The questions I have are; what kind of jobs are you creating? Are you creating good paying above minimum wage (or ideally living wage) jobs with health benefits? Or are they jobs that pay six, seven, or eight dollars an hour; which truthfully no one can really make a living on in this economy and especially with the cost of living in New York. Did you know that most employees at many of the Big Box stores still have to rely on public assistance and Medicaid? If the job is not going to allow you to get out of poverty, what good is it? Lastly, are the developers of  Ridge Hill going to lease retail space only with the chain stores or are smaller businesses going to be allowed in as well? What about the environmental impact? What about the increase in traffic? Isn’t it time that we break the chains that bind us?