Big box retailers traditionally pay employees at rates well below a living wage. The size of the proposed development means that, rather than having to accept the prevailing wages of our community, the big boxes will be able to set their own wages, usually part time, near the legal minimum, and often with no benefits. This community already has one of the lowest unemployment rates in New York State. We don't need more minimum wage jobs. Independent local retailers have a commitment to the community that corporate retailers never will, and never can.
Local retailers consider the community home.
Here, in Ithaca, we witnessed the closing of Woolworth's, a profitable store, because of corporate realities that had nothing to do with our small city or its needs. The effect on Ithaca was not a factor in the decision Ithaca's economy depends on independent retailers providing support for our local artists. Creative Ithacans of all kinds, from potters to jewelry makers, from 'zine publishers to textile painters, sell their wares in locally owned stores. Target sells whatever the central warehouse sends them. Nobody on-site has the authority to add anything to the merchandise line.