As everyone has mentioned above there are some advantages to supermarkets, and they aren't necessarily inherently evil. For most people the opening hours alone are a major help with a busy lifestyle. The real problem is that most councils have not got the balls to stand up to the big chains when their plans do more harm than good to the local area. Even when Tesco's exceeded their square footage by a significant amount on one site, they still got retrospective planning permission. I think they should have been made to tear it down. If one of us mere mortals had done the same with an extension I doubt we would have got off so lightly.