, Columnist
Big Businesses' Latest Power Play: Raising Wages
The mom-and-pop operations can't compete for workers as Wal-Mart, Starbucks and JPMorgan sweeten their compensation.
Higher pay is good, right? Well....
Photographer: GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP/Getty ImagesIn the 1990s, Wal-Mart's "everyday low prices" crushed small businesses. Mom and pop stores just couldn't compete against the behemoth's economies of scale and investments in its supply chain. In an era of low inflation and stagnant wage growth, where success or failure was a function of who had the lowest prices, big business was the clear winner.
But now the game has changed.