The last time I went to Davis, I discovered a brand-new Boston Sports Club on top of a brand-new CVS and it felt apocalyptic. That’s not my Davis Square.
That said, I’ve had the Davis Square Midnight Madness event on my calendar for weeks.
Besides fantastic sales at three of my favorite clothing stores in all of Boston (Cibeline’s, Poor Little Rich Girl and Black and Blues), deals at Kickass Cupcakes and Dave’s Fresh Pasta, and at the hip little enclaves of funky gift shops Davis-Squared and Magpie (all of which will be open till midnight tonight!), today’s Harvard Bookstore newsletter just gave me a whole new reason to go spend too much money: support local business!
According to the article they linked to,
We assume that the chains represent economic progress, but in fact they take far more out of our economy than they contribute. A study by David Neumark at UC-Irvine found that every new Wal-Mart store actually eliminates many more retail jobs than it creates.
The expansion of the chains has triggered a cascade of losses in other economic sectors. Some three million U.S. manufacturing jobs have been eliminated since 1990, in part because the chains have pressured companies, including Black & Decker and Levi’s, to slash costs by moving overseas.
The chains also return very little of what their stores take in back to the communities where they operate.
So, if I’m giving you a gift this year, I’m doing so by giving one to my community as well. Awwww! Besides, everyone knows that all the coolest presents come from quirky little independent shops.
And Chappy Chanukah to all!
