By Jeff Milchen /Common Dreams
For those suffering from too much quality time with their families, the chain stores are poised to offer an escape by opening Thanksgiving Day. Before your dinner is digested, you can flee the table to vie for pole position at the big box entrance like Roman chariot drivers and prepare to do battle for one of those few really cheap “door-buster” flat-screens.
And it’s not just shoppers jockeying for position. Americans are about to drop a big chunk of change during this holiday season, (an average of $738 on gifts, décor, greeting cards and other items) and every retailer is looking for their piece.
For many years, corporate chains and online giants have garnered an ever-greater share of our spending at the holidays and year-round. That means not only a greater share of revenue being funneled into fewer hands, but big challenges for our communities as downtowns struggle and opportunities for residents to run their own business decrease, diminishing their local multiplier effect.
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