Crazy Prices in Glengormley to close

Suplex_Backbreaker

I would ideally prefer to see quality local retailers rather than swathes of superstores run by big businesses/multinationals.

However, I well remember when I was a lad before the big supermarkets, out of town shopping centres and internet shopping came along - and the quality, service, choice and prices available in the local small shops in the town where I grew up was simply awful. They had the local market sewn up and so a cartel of local business prevented anyone else moving into the town for years (including opposing a new shopping centre development). As other areas got better shopping, business drifted out of the town and pretty much all the old local businesses went to the wall.

Today in the town there's really just a huge Tesco and a gaggle of small shops selling tat or charity shops plus a couple of specialist retailers who are halfway decent and managed to survive. Even then, the current choice is still better for groceries and cheap clothes/electronics and for the pricier consumer goods or more choice it's easy to either order off the internet or drive maybe 15-20 miles to a place where there are retail parks or shopping centres.

So - lots of small, local retailers does not automatically equal a better situation for the consumer. It really boils down to shoppers rewarding quality service and too many people just want 'cheap', hence why we have big franchises taking over everywhere.