Quote:
Originally Posted by Snake Doctor
That's not necessarily true. It's a combination of things with the mom and pops.
In "The Long Tail" by Chris Anderson, there was a chapter where he talked about how the Sears catalog changed retailing nationwide.
Back then, most of the people in the country lived and worked on farms, and the local "general stores" could charge literally whatever they wanted to for things, because there was no competition.
The Sears catalog changed that and allowed people to order things that were then shipped to them via railroad.
That put alot of "general stores" out of business, but it was good for everyone in the country who didn't own a general store.
When Wal-Mart moves to town and puts the mom and pops out of business, alot of us feel bad because we have a soft spot in our hearts for "family businesses", but in alot of cases, just like in the days of the Sears catalog, those mom and pops were overcharging people in a ridiculous way.
Sly did mention something about Wal-Mart getting tax breaks, and that's something I disagree with. Retail businesses don't "create jobs" the way other types of businesses do, so they don't deserve any type of special treatment by local governments to come to town IMO. Other than that, I think most communities are better of with Wal-Mart than they were before.  |
While that is nice theory I have real life examples of family members and friends who own corner bodegas and liquor stores. And my own experience as a Pepsi route route worker. The more you order the less you pay and the better the middle man you can deal with. For instance in NY State there is only 1 liquor supplier in the whole state, all liquor stores get from this company (albany based I believe) now the friend I know orders a LOT of volume so he beats almost every liquor store I have ever been to. The one by me however is small and crappy and they sell for like 3 to 8 dollars more per bottle of certain stuff. It's not because they are douchebags, both stores are family owned and operated so they have no overhead there or thieves in employment, both are in good "hood" areas where liquor sells well, but the difference is one can get better deals from the supplier.
The same goes for my uncles bodega, I ran it many times for him when he took trips home. They order set stuff, the biggest selling thing is cigarettes and liquor and junk food, so they get SHITTY deals from the market supplier who sells all kinds of fruit and food, but they get GREAT deals from the Lays guy and the Pepsi guy and the Budweiser guy. The market is controlled in trickle down, it always has been. The thing is that now it is more efficient and that means it is less human.
