85. Local businesses. Do we need them? Do we want them?
I have written already, in post 34, about the ‘Todos tus libros’ platform, which aims to help local Spanish bookshops survive financially during the lockdown. And there are others helping different businesses, such as ‘Cuando volvamos’, much more global. I’m not aware of the same in UK, which is material for another post, but I may have just missed them. But do we really need to save local businesses? Are they important? This I guess depends on how you understand them. Most consumers see them as a means to buy goods and, therefore, fully replaceable by global behemoths with optimised distribution networks which can deliver the same goods to your door. But surely they are more. They are local employers. Maybe local outlets too for local producers (of food, art, toys, whatever). They can be local meeting places, where you bump into those people who it is nice to occasionally bump into and have a chat. Even shelter from the rain when out in town. What are they for you? Do we keep them? Le...