Everyone loves to save money. In today's tough economic times, every dollar counts. For some families, saving twenty dollars a week can mean the difference between having food on the table or not. Whether out of necessity or simply the thrill of getting a good deal, American families have relied on “big box” retailers for affordable products for decades. There really is nothing better than walking into a store and being able to purchase clothes, groceries, auto supplies, pet supplies and household items. You can do an entire day of shopping in one place, in a fraction of the time, at very competitive prices. These same stores employ hundreds of employees from the community and are believed to greatly benefit the city and county with their tax dollars. It seems like these retailers should be welcomed with open arms when they think about building one of their mega-stores in America's mid-sized communities. Closer inspection, however, should make citizens think twice before opening their communities to these companies. The loss of jobs, the negative impact on the local economy, and the low wages paid by these stores are just some of the reasons why large retailers do more harm than good to the communities in which they are located. A large retailer is defined as a retail store that occupies a huge amount of physical space and offers a variety of products to its customers. The term "big-box" comes from the physical appearance of the store. Located in large buildings over 50,000 square feet, the store is usually simply designed and often resembles a large box (Investopedia). Some of these stores, such as Wal-Mart, K-Mart, and Target, offer consumers a wide variety of products. Others, considered "cat...half of paper...if a community has no businesses where people can work for a living wage, where will that money come from? Works CitedBig Box Tool Kit." Five Myths About Retailing large retail." Institute for Local Self-Reliance. 2009. Network. March 27, 2011. Chambers, Susan. "Review and Revision of Wal-Mart's Benefits Strategy." Note to the Wal-Mart Board of Directors. 2006 .Civic Economics. "Andersonville Study on Retail Economics." Oct 2004Investopedia, terms. Web. 27 Mar 2011.Neumark, David, Junfu Zhang, Stephen Ciccarella. "The Effects of Wal-Mart on Local Labor Markets." . Discussion Paper Series, Document 2545, University of Bonn. January 2007. "Winners and Losers under the Robinson-Patman Act." : 243-271Walmartfacts. Company fact sheet. Web. 8 April 2011.