The idea of who/what a merchant is/are have never been fuzzier….
When I was a kid… the small town that I lived in ~ 15 K population… all the merchants were along the “main drag” of the downtown of the city… there were six pharmacies – only one store from a very small regional chain that was a “Rexall agency”.. and one of the indys was a “Walgreen’s Agency”.. there were even four pharmacies on one city block. These indys were such competitors that they alternating staying open on Sunday and taking care of each others customers that needed a Rx filled on Sunday. The local A&P and Krogers were across the street from one another.
Back then… a grocery store was around 12 K sq ft… a chain drug store was around 5 K sq ft… Convenient stores were starting to open at around 12oo Sq ft. “Gas station actually just sold gas and you could get your car repaired “…There was no such thing as a 24 hr store and even the major grocery stores… CLOSED ON SUNDAY…
It is amazing.. or depressing … how competitors have tried to cannibalized each others product mix and customer base to the extent that – other than sq ft store size … they are getting harder and harder to tell them apart. Commercialization has moved at such a pace that merchants are becoming more and more generic or such a commodity that they are having trouble getting the general public to distinguish between the competitors.
How much longer before such signs read “… get your flu shot today and get a free loaf of bread…???”
Filed under: General Problems
Leave a Reply