I can understand why such laws are made.
If Huge Store Chain moves in to a town and sells items there at a loss but subsidizes that particular store with profits from other locations UTIL local competitors are forced to close the end result is a monopoly.
UNTIL
I thought (heavy emphasis on ‘thought’) that was referred to as ‘predatory pricing’ and was already illegal under federal law.
The real end result is that the consumer will turn to the internet to purchase from out of state merchants which also circumvents state sales taxes.....
According to this law every business would have to sell products at cost plus 6%, or more.
Problem is every business can have wildly different costs for the exact same products.
This moronic law would make it illegal for any business to try to compete with Walmart, because Walmart can prove their costs are much lower.
Here is what I was told by my teacher sixty years ago.
A small town has two grocery stores, two drug stores, two shoe stores two cafes. Two of everything. All this is to prove there is NO monopoly of business in the town.
BUT, each store has an under the table handshake that each will not undercut the other so both can keep their prices high. The city Council privately agrees to this as they will also get their cut. They will also keep other business out as they might “upset the apple cart”.
So, some store comes to town, is refused permission to open, so the store opens OUTSIDE the city limits, and cuts prices, driving the high dollar stores to either cut prices or go out of business.
You would be surprised (OK, no you would not) at the number of empty stores we have in town everywhere we have lived. And this was taking place BEFORE Sam Walton started his Walmart.