Say goodbye to small retail: Should we care?

Abstract

This article poses the question as to why planners should be concerned about the declining health of the small retail sector. It looks at the contributions that this sector makes to the health and vibrancy of local communities, the reasons for the sector's decline, and what jurisdictions in other countries have done to try to stem the tide. It attempts to show, from a full-cost accounting perspective, how the loss of a viable small retail sector should be anything but a matter of indifference to planners and other civic leaders.