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The Cities in the United States With the Highest Percentage of Independent Stores

Small businesses play a vital role in any commercial economy. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, there are approximately 31.7 million active small businesses in the United States, which make up 99.9% of all registered companies. Although large retailers are in control of the retail sector in the country, the 100 biggest chain stores generated a total of $2.6 trillion in sales in 2022, as reported by the National Retail Federation’s study.

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Business

The U.S. States and Metro Areas With the Most Female-Owned Business

Owning your own business is the quintessence of the American Dream. The freedom of self-employment and control of your own earnings is a temptation for many, a feeling shared by 9.6 million people across the nation, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Yet for generations of women, it was an unattainable goal. Until 1988, a spouse or male relative was required to co-sign a loan application, and the glass ceiling of the workplace extended to entrepreneurship. This changed when Congress signed the Women’s Business Ownership Act, the first piece of legislation to recognize the contribution of female entrepreneurs to the American economy.

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The highest-earning songs in the world, mapped

There’s no doubt about it: streaming media services like Spotify have revolutionized the process we listen to music. Where once enjoying music suggested first rifling through a heap of CDs or paying and waiting for a download, Spotify instead provides 100 million tracks at the touch of a button. Spotify has also transformed how we search for music. For instance, personalized playlists, powered by algorithms based on the user’s music preference, meant that Spotify recommended over 30 percent of overall listening in 2017. Tracks by little-known artists that otherwise would remain unknown are moved to the forefront and up the charts, thanks again to Spotify’s playlists.

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