“Not in my neighborhood”: resistance to chain drug‐stores

The present paper compares the protests that CVS, a leading chain retailer, experienced as it attempted to establish a new drug‐store on the Upper West Side of New York City’s borough of Manhattan with those Walgreen, another major chain pharmacy, encountered as it attempted to enter a neighborhood shopping area in Madison, Wisconsin, a medium‐sized city in the mid‐western region of the USA. It finds that well‐educated, affluent residents in both locations believe that they should have input regarding the retail composition of local shopping areas, and that their resistance to new stores can be successful. It also reveals that such consumers may be protective of small retailers and may harbor strong anti‐chain‐store sentiments.