Cities put shackles on chain stores

"...The opposition is intensifying because corporations from Crate & Barrel to Banana Republic are rediscovering downtowns. After abandoning urban centers for suburban malls and strip shopping centers, many retailers are coming back because people are returning to cities. Opponents of chain stores say the companies spread suburban sameness and ruin the distinctive character of neighborhoods.

"Some (communities) are simply interested in how these things look," says Stacy Mitchell, senior researcher with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, an advocacy group in Minneapolis, and author of The Hometown Advantage: How to Defend Your Main Street Against Chain Stores ... and Why It Matters. "But almost all are much more concerned about the loss of locally owned businesses."

In Bristol, chain stores now can't fill more than a 2,500-square-foot storefront. They have to apply for a special-use permit from the zoning board, get a "certificate of appropriateness" from the Historic District Commission and meet appearance standards.

Anti-chain movements are brewing in Missouri, Florida and Ohio. Mitchell says independent business owners in Tampa are hosting a public forum to discuss whether chain stores are preferable to homegrown businesses. A similar group in St. Louis organized an "Independents Week."...

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