Quote by ElCoco
If Chicago makes enough changes to make it possible to operate profitably, maybe mom-and-pop stores will provide grocery and other shopping services to those communities. Even if the cost to the shoppers will be higher, at least they'll be able to do their shopping locally.
You keep trying to make this about crime and lawlessness but ignore the conditions that produce higher crime rates, which are at least partly due to poverty and loss of community - both things that mega-corporations actively contribute to.
But, you do have a point (even if we have to come at it somewhat sideways) that big box stores allow for relatively low-cost retail which ultimately serves those at the lower rungs of the economic ladder. At WalMart "The lowest price is the law" (at least that used to be their slogan at one point). However, if you look at what's behind those lower prices, you'll find exploitation and system-rigging. As I mentioned, big-box corporations use their size to buy products in bulk at a steep savings, often forcing manufacturers to undercut themselves in order to secure large contracts. Manufacturers then need to explore their own cost-cutting strategies which often comes from reducing the quality of products, and paying workers less while requiring greater productivity from them. Because we have things in the US like a relatively high minimum wage, it makes "made in the USA" cost prohibitive, and so the big boxes source their products from overseas (this is really where jobs are going - they're not being stolen by immigrants, they're being given away by corporations). So, more people are out of work, those who do work aren't making enough, and the monopoly of retail corporations gives them an unfair competitive advantage over smaller business, essentially meaning that unless you get extremely lucky, any small business retail venture you'd care to start is doomed to fail in a market saturated by chains that are bigger, wealthier, and more powerful than you could ever hope to be. The entry price to starting a business is way too high for the majority of Americans and American corporate greed at the top is murdering the American dream for the rest.
Of course, the exploitation doesn't end at our borders but preys on the most vulnerable globally. These corporations lobby foreign governments to relax labor laws to the point where they've basically recreated abusive endentured servitude under incredibly hazardous conditions in these places in order to keep production costs low. Does it comfort you to know that children are starving so you can save $5 on your next pair of shoes (the retail cost of which is already highly inflated above the production cost so retailers can maximize their profits at a minimal expense?).
Furthermore, as producers, pressured by big-box retailers cut quality to cut costs, we’re finding that things are breaking down at a faster and faster rate. Products are not being designed to last forever, but to have a limited life and need to be replaced periodically. That’s good for business as it means repeat customers, but it’s a negative for consumers as they keep having to buy the same shitty product over and over again. The things that break down end up in land fills creating an environmental impact which is also ruining the planet for future generations and will almost certainly hit those in poverty first and hardest.
Big boxes also have destroyed communities. As I mentioned earlier, they discourage competition from small business. The loss of small business means that communities lose their distinctive qualities and character. They become less of a place to take pride in, and more like an impersonal anywhere else. Then you have the issue of space usage - where a big box like Walmart or Target (along with it's massive parking lot) could occupy the space of a city block. That city block would have been host to a number of shops where shoppers could stroll and get to know each other as they interact. A thriving city block can contribute to civic-mindedness which is an antidote for crime because people are looking out for each other. As a shopper you can take pride in financially supporting your local community. With big boxes, that money is extracted from the community and centralized at some headquarter located probably somewhere far away, which also contributes to impoverishing said community.
So, no, I'm not going to cry for corporations because someone shoplifted a pack of socks from Target. Fuck them.
