Lots of questions arise from two downtown Lansing (MI) businesses closing down, a Dollar store and a Hallmark card shop.
Lansing State Journal columnist John Schneider writes about how the two businesses were told by the city of Lansing that they needed to buy a $50 license before they could have a going out of business sale and as part of the reporting process, they need to provide skads of information about what they were selling.
The two stores, Barb’s Hallmark Shop and Dollar Deal, are right downtown on south Washington Street, right in the heart of the district that Mayor Virg Benernero has made the focus of his administration’s redevelopment efforts. Millions in tax breaks have been given to other businesses, but no mention is made of help being offered or given to these two.
Do you as a consumer feel protected by the 1961 state law which is supposed to stop businesses from holding phony sales?
Is this good regulation or is it an example of lawmaking gone amuck where it’s trying to protect consumers from transactions they should be aware of themselves?
