Another possible advantage of the chain stores is that I suspect they're an opportunity for a young employee to learn the processes and systems big businesses o

Another possible advantage of the chain stores is that I suspect they're an opportunity for a young employee to learn the processes and systems big businesses often have in place. My children are still young, but I plan to encourage them to do a teenage stint with a big brand just to see how it's done. I didn't and my business operations are fairly ad hoc. A smaller business, as you said, has social advantages, but they're likely to be flakier, limited recourse if there's an HR issue, etc.