It is very simple: Big stores have a huge cost advantage over independent stores. They have fewer employees relative to their sales volume than do the small stores. Meanwhile, they buy in volume and don't bother stocking items that have a small sales volume, which gives them a very high profit margin. It is not possible for smaller stores to compete on price; they can only compete on service.
The Ace Hardware stores seem to be bucking the trend. Although the stores are independently owned, they seem to follow a common formula: Good service and a good inventory of items the big box stores don't bother with (e.g. oddball fasteners).
As for restaurants, the chains are successful because we are creatures of habit. You can go into a McDonalds or Cracker Barrel anywhere in the country and you won't be faced with anything unfamiliar. (Which is not to say the food at chain restaurants is fit to eat, only that it is consistent.) For the most part, my wife and I avoid the chains when traveling; as a result we have had both very bad and very good meals on our trips.
Online shopping is no doubt affecting the mall stores, but they are being squeezed from other directions as well: They pay astronomical rent, while their target customers (middle-class urbanites in their twenties) are not making the kind of money they made twenty years ago.
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Today's Featured Article - Tractor Profile: Allis-Chalmers Model G - by Staff. The first Allis-Chalmers Model G was produced in 1948 in Gasden, Alabama, and was designed for vegetable gardeners, small farms and landscape businesses. It is a small compact tractor that came with a complete line of implements especially tailored for its unique design. It featured a rear-mounted Continental N62 four-cylinder engine with a 2-3/8 x 3-1/2 inch bore and stroke. The rear-mounted engine provided traction for the rear wheels while at the same time gave the tractor operator a gre
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