The other day, our spot carpet washer gave out. Having animals, this is a must. I went to three different big box stores, none of which carried the one we used or even a similar product. I then proceeded to a national brand hardware store, they didn't have it either. I ended up with an ok product, but the point is, the item I wanted is an international brand, made in America, and I still could not buy it locally. I wanted to, but couldn't. The last place (where I purchased the sorta equivalent product) told me they didn't carry that brand because it does not have enough margin. UGH!
It is a phenomenon being repeated across the country in towns big and small.
When we first moved to our growing town nearly 15 years ago, there was a stationers. It had paper, pens, pencils, schools supplies, and a whole bunch of different cards. Pens varied from cheap $0.25 ball points to a few $60+ fountain pens. I bought some ink, got some blank stationary, and had a nice chat.
Around the corner from this store was a magical creature, rare as a unicorn these days, a proper hardware store. It had a cheesy name, run by a local family, with a selection twice that of any big box store, and it had truly knowledgeable staff, the same family who'd been running it for almost 50 years. I was doing some woodworking at the time, and picked up some fresh, properly made files, a handy, quality made sanding block, and got my chisels and plane sharpened. To boot, he still sold nails by the pound, and had every size screw and bolt from nearly microscopic to marine size (I needed to replace an extremely small Euro size screw on my horn, he had it!), and kept a selection of ply and hard wood in the back lot.
Down the street from him was an honest-to-god hobby store, with rocketeering supplies, RC, radio (ham and CB), lots of electronics, and tons of free advice, plus, in the corner there were a few comics, and a table set up for "the kids" as the proprietor put it, so they could play D&D and whatever else.
Further down the street was a really good family jewelry store that had onsite watch repair. Not just battery replacement, or cleanings, but honest-to-god real repairs.
But maybe most importantly, a music store, with used and new, some valve oil, tuning slide grease, and a few horn books on the rack. Who could ask for more.
I was excited, it was a real town, with real services, and most everything was locally owned. The grocery stores and gas-stations (and there were still some local family ones here) are really the only exceptions to that I can recall. I had grown up around colleges and universities, with all that goes with that. Sure, there were not the specialized art stores, home-brewing supplies, or even a fully dedicated gaming store, but the essentials were there, along with some mighty fine cinnamon rolls at the corner bakery, a fine panaderia with great tres leches, and I could walk down the street and see pigs, cows, horses, and still hear the coyotes sing every night. I'd just managed to figure out all the great little stores when the first big box showed up. It was a home improvement store with an orange sign. Not two months later, Ye Olde Hardware Store was closed.
Of course, a lot of other box stores followed, plus two malls, and a lot of other national brands. The sad thing about it is, I buy less locally now than I did then, and it's not because the internet came along, or maybe it is, but whatever the reason, these hundreds of thousands of extra shopping square feet provides less selection than I had when we first moved here. Sure, there's a huge volume of stuff but it's a crappy variety. So here's the double edged sword. Or the self-perpetuating feedback death spiral that is the internet. Property is expensive, so national store chains can displace locals, but in order to do that, they must sell volume, so pump up the size, reduce selection, and push the sale price. People become frustrated with the selection, turn to the internet for more and more, so to stay afloat, box stores now carry less variety, again pump up the volume, reduce the variety to guarantee the bottom line. Meanwhile, the mid-size national chains are falling away because the rent has been driven up by the ultra-box stores, and now buildings are empty. Chains see this as an opportunity, rent neighboring properties, and increase size, decrease selection, and force all but the daily or desperate shopper away, and the community begins to rely on internet for regular, daily needs. It has become so bad in my area that I can no longer buy DE razor blades, aftershave brands that have been around for centuries, the toothpaste (a national brand) I use, almost anything American made, quality wood finishes (varnish and shellac), any utensil of quality, and now, our international food store chain was purchased by a non-competitor, and had half their selection removed. So, I am doing the bulk of my shopping online, because I am literally left with junk.
It's not all bad, except for the huge traffic problem the delivery trucks are creating.
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