Throughout the pandemic, we’ve watched the friendly neighborhood shops shutter their doors, many closing down for good or relocating to new areas. Some used retail services to set up in locations where the regulations were less harsh. The ones that remained open faced labor shortages, increased expenses for lucite partitions to separate staff and customers, reduced operating hours, supply chain disruption, product shortages and fines from local enforcers of the new regulations.
Amazon and other large retail chains scooped up all the business and built new facilities to absorb the customers from smaller stores that could not overcome the challenges. Interestingly, stores like Walmart were deemed necessary services and felt little impact of the regulations and closures the smaller businesses experienced.
The little guys that endured did so because they were creative and offered curbside pick-up and convenient variations of their services. But it was a situation that hindered business growth and most businesses barely made a profit. Survival was more important.
The stores that survived have reopened, many keeping their plastic partitions in place. Shoppers have been delighted to return to retails store aisles again. The challenge they faced afterwards was finding skilled workers. The government was rewarding the unemployed for staying home, paying more in unemployment wages than the workers earned by showing up for work. Few industries have been spared this difficulty.
Can we ever trust that we are safe from these strict regulations and forced closures again? It’s hard to say; the CDC has recently updated their recommendations to limit testing to those with symptoms; however, nothing has been said regarding inoculations and masking, so we are left to ponder how they may play a role in the future. What we are hearing is that new health threats are emerging across the world. But does experiencing one pandemic automatically mean every health threat should be treated the same way? That’s the question our citizens must ponder – and retailers are left to speculate. Should they capitulate the next time around or will the public support their decision to stay open and operate normally? That remains to be seen.
As good neighbors to these local shop owners, we can commit to giving our business to them instead of feeding fat cat big tech companies that rob the little guys across the country. Small businesses will be able to offer better deals as long as business is steady. Consumers have become so demanding, expecting the lowest prices, free shipping, and great customer service without ever caring about who profits on the other side.
Amazon succeeds brilliantly at offering lower prices because vendors are forced to sell at the lowest price. In essence, Amazon forces out the competition and has created a model to dominate all retail shopping business. It has no competition unless we fight back and return business to our local communities. That may require a drive down the block instead of a trip to our front stoop, but it is a small investment on our part to help preserve our local businesses.
