Embrace the Chains

Brian Blackmon

There is a lot of talk in Wilmington about shopping locally. This is great, and when given the chance I always try to support local businesses. I do this because I understand that spending money locally will keep that money circulating locally longer, not to mention the fact that locally-owned service providers are usually well above par compared to larger chain stores. However, I am shocked at the extreme stances some Wilmingtonians are taking regarding the support of national and regional chain stores calling downtown Wilmington home. I believe that chain stores let people in a city of 200,000 enjoy amenities once available only in a huge metropolitan center, and by not encouraging these stores to plant themselves in our city centers we are encouraging sprawl, limiting the cultural & social potential of our city, and we are in fact increasing economic frustration for the city.

The idea that Main Street USA of the 1940s was filled with strictly mom and pop stores is largely a myth. In fact, the downtowns of the 1920s-1960s were completely immersed in chain stores. The concept of suburbia was not fully developed until the early part of this century, making it a relatively new phenomenon, especially compared with denser city centers. Before shopping malls with sidewalks to nowhere, there were chain stores and department stores downtown. In the early 1940s, chain stores even took over much smaller towns with very meager downtowns. Sears decided to tackle the small towns that could not support one of their large retail stores. According to the Sears Archives, “Another important approach to urban customers was made through catalog sales desks, which were installed in the retail stores. In another move, Sears opened catalog sales offices in towns too small to support retail stores. Two decades later, the company launched an additional catalog operation – the independent catalog merchant program – in which a person operates his or her own store to sell Sears merchandise.”

One of the main reasons chain stores moved away from downtowns is the changing structure of cities. The dense and centralized city of the early 19th century was active and functional with public transportation. This created a perfect environment for the growth of chain stores and department stores. But as downtowns were abandoned for the suburbs, the large, downtown department stores became problematic and lost business to the newer suburban shopping malls. The American Planning Association Site Design, Parking and Zoning for Shopping Centers Report of 1954 says that “Shopping centers in suburban areas are nearer the population they serve (in driving time), offer a relatively large (if sometimes inadequate) amount of conveniently located off-street parking, and fit in with the patterns of suburban living described by Burgess and other urban sociologists as long as twenty-five years ago.” The report also says “Suburban shopping centers have come into existence, grown in size, and increased in number not because they offer new products or better stores than are to be found in central business districts, but because they are convenient.” Because of their convenient location, suburban shopping centers became the attraction of chain stores and department stores leaving many downtowns left with only churches, furniture stores, and the courthouse.

However, cities are changing and people are flocking downtown. Downtown residents deserve the same amenities that those living in the suburbs have, and they should not be encouraged to drive to the suburbs to shop. But there is a surprising dislike and dissatisfaction of chain stores by groups advocating local shopping. Virginia Postrel of the Atlantic has researched this subject and gives an example from her article In Praise of Chain Stores:

Planning consultant Robert Gibbs works with cities that want to revive their downtowns, and he also helps developers find space for retailers. To his frustration, he finds that many cities actually turn away national chains, preferring a moribund downtown that seems authentically local. But, he says, the same local activists who oppose chains ‘want specialty retail that sells exactly what the chains sell—the same price, the same fit, the same qualities, the same sizes, the same brands, even.’” Many chain stores can easily meet these needs where local stores fail, but this is where shopping local campaigns and downtown officials slip. They would rather place the chain store in the suburban shopping malls instead of downtown, where they belong.

Downtown residents are still eating fast food, shopping at large retail stores, going to Mayfair to see movies, etc… but now we are driving farther to do so. I am not suggesting that downtown Wilmington is being solicited for space by Chic-fil-a, McDonalds, Gap, or Borders, because this is not true. It takes a lot of work for chain stores or department stores to decide that locating downtown is best; in fact, they usually opt to locate in a suburban mall. But if presented with the opportunity, city officials and buy-local campaigns should embrace a chain store locating downtown. In his book Urban Geography: A Global Perspective, Michael Pacione says cities that currently have active and vibrant downtowns accomplished this by becoming centers of consumption and not centers of production. Becoming a center of consumption means welcoming large chain stores and encouraging economic activity in your city center not your suburbs.

I think for a downtown to be effective it needs to have a healthy mix of national & regional chains as well as local mom and pop stores. Having a downtown with only local stores will not attract critical mass, and having a downtown with only chain stores will deplete the area of its local color. Because people will always drive 30 minutes from downtown to a suburban shopping mall (even with gas at $4/gallon), city officials should do all they can to attract these stores as close to downtown as possible. Local restaurants thrive next to McDonalds, local coffee shops prosper beside Starbucks, and local boutiques will always do well beside Old Navy. This happens every day in suburbia and suburbia is booming. Why are we trying to stop it from happening downtown?

“Expecting each town to independently invent every new business is a prescription for real monotony, at least for the locals. Chains make a large range of choices available in more places.” -Virginia Postrel

Virginia Postrel says, “Stores don’t give places their character. Terrain and weather and culture do.” We like to believe that people visit Wilmington for its quaint and charming downtown, that they drive from Raleigh or Charlotte to eat fudge at Kilwins, drink coffee from Port City Java, and have a hot dog at the Trolley Stop. But people come to Wilmington to go to the beach. Having all of these locally owned landmarks is a plus. Local companies help make the environment unique. Chains often give stability and act as a familiar face to tourists. Local companies and local shopping are most successful in environments with many national retail stores, and according to The Good City, “Interestingly enough, Starbucks enhances coffee culture and actually helps local coffee shops.” There are plenty of sound arguments made in support of shopping locally only. There is the argument that chain stores may not be as committed to a location as a locally owned business. True. And that perhaps the chain store might just pick up and leave when sales dip leaving a hole to be filled. Also true. But as Brooke Allen says, “Although there is some reality in the image of the chains as predators, it is not the whole truth or even, perhaps, the most important part.” The draw of national chains cannot be disputed. I know some people might read this as capitalist propaganda, but I hope people understand this is a necessary manner of bringing visitors, money, and life back into downtown Wilmington.

My thoughts on this topic can best be summed up by Brooke Allen who says “The emotional drive behind the anti-chain crusade is an understandable mistrust of big corporations allied with the knee-jerk snobbery that is never far from the surface in American cultural life.” Certainly it is favorable to support a local business, but it is not bad to shop at a national chain. This is about the vitality of our city – the pursuit of positive growth. And with that vision, Wilmington should embrace any retail opportunities downtown.