Small business woes

[andygates]

Our town is being menaced by the faceless horror of Tesco.  That's what the local small businesses would like you to think ,at least - big business putting the plucky small trader out of work unfairly.

In the last few days I've turned up with a fistful of shinies to two of these local shops and had my money turned away.  At the phone shop, I was turned away because I was dealing with the other salesman, and he's not in today - and the rural simpleton behind the desk presumably couldn't split the commission so he'd rather turn away a sale.  And I've been told by the electrical goods shop that they will give me a price for a storage heater if I give them a product number.  I'll just go to another shop and get it then, shall I?

Straw-chewing knuckle-dragging subprime gibbons, the lot of them.  Using "we're small businesses, love us!" to defend this sort of feeble service is weak, weak, weak. 

Small businesses can be great.  The personal service, working relationship and deep knowledge from years in the trade are well worth the modest premium you may pay over big-box retailers.  But "small" is not and never should be an excuse for "lazy".  Lazy businesses deserve to go under.

At least there'll be room for a Starbuck's.

Comments

[erlf.livejournal.com]

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.