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Covid destroyed the local businesses and replaced them with Amazon ... Here the local butcher was gone after 140 year, local farmers market, local antique store

Covid destroyed the local businesses and replaced them with Amazon ... Here the local butcher was gone after 140 year, local farmers market, local antique store and even the craft shop. At least we are consistent that everything comes from china now, almost like we don't matter at all.

colordrops 5y ago
Covid didn't destroy local businesses - ham-fisted (or maybe even intentionally malicious) policies destroyed local business. Considering Bezos' regular sociopathic behavior, I wouldn't even be surprised if it came out that Amazon lobbied various local governments to severely restrict small businesses under the guise of public health during covid. It's what Bezos does in the space industry and he even owns a media outlet (Washington Post) to push his agendas.
umanwizard 5y ago
> Covid destroyed Not covid. The response to covid, which was a choice with tradeoffs.
- sharken 5y ago
  Tomayto, tomahto, if Covid had not happened these stores would most likely still be in business.
  - umanwizard 5y ago
    If Britain’s leaders had decided not to have lockdowns, they would most likely still be in business as well. The distinction matters, because when evaluating lockdowns it’s important to realize that there are heavy costs.
    - tonyedgecombe 5y ago
      Not really. Footfall was way down before the lockdowns started. People saw what was happening in Italy and stayed home.
    - colinmhayes 5y ago
      Most white collar workers would lock down anyway.
hkt 5y ago
The decision (taken before millennials were born) to offshore as much work as possible was taken to undercut the wages and conditions of UK (and more generally, western) workers. The quarrel shouldn't be with China though - our politicians chose this because it made the wealthy wealthier.
- kazen44 5y ago
  also, the removal of manufacturing capability has enourmous Geo political consequences. the chip shortage shows the pain points. as did the incident with the evergreen ship and covid-19 as a whole. outsourcing seems to also be partially motivated by undercutting the workers and focus on short term profits.
arethuza 5y ago
Quite the opposite in the town near where I live in Fife - the town centre has boomed since Covid. I suspect people popping out to shop during the day rather than commuting into Edinburgh.
- dboreham 5y ago
  It takes a long spoon..
mFixman 5y ago
Cannot confirm. My local farmer's market in London is stronger than ever, and two new ones opened up at walking distance from my house in the last year. Working from home and allowing people to sneak out of work on a Wednesday noon to buy groceries was a boon for farmers' markets. Places with cheap products and places with good products are striving. COVID is accelerating the death of shops that sell bad products at high prices.
vidarh 5y ago
This decline started decades ago. In the 21 years I've lived in the UK, dozens of large chains have shut down, including several large, iconic department store chains. The reality is the shift online have been going on for more 20 years at this point, and it's not at all just Amazon, and to the extent Covid had an effect it was to speed things along a ton little bit.
- vanilla-almond 5y ago
  There has been a big jump in online grocery delivery during the pandemic in the UK. I suspect many people are continuing with online delivery even though pandemic restrictions have eased. The pandemic really exposed some of the supermarkets and retailers with no online delivery offering (at least in the UK) e.g. Lidl, Aldi, Primark. All the supermarkets remained open during the pandemic, but the ones without the online delivery option missed the opportunity to expand in the online grocery market.
  - vidarh 5y ago
    That's true, but this is not where anywhere near a majority of retail collapses in the UK has come from. Most of the large collapses started long before Covid, and even most.of the contraction during Covid has been of businesses on a solid downward trajectory long before.
blibble 5y ago
the department stores have been losing business for 10 years now covid is just finishing them off

colordrops 5y ago

Covid didn't destroy local businesses - ham-fisted (or maybe even intentionally malicious) policies destroyed local business. Considering Bezos' regular sociopathic behavior, I wouldn't even be surprised if it came out that Amazon lobbied various local governments to severely restrict small businesses under the guise of public health during covid. It's what Bezos does in the space industry and he even owns a media outlet (Washington Post) to push his agendas.

umanwizard 5y ago

> Covid destroyed Not covid. The response to covid, which was a choice with tradeoffs.

sharken 5y ago
Tomayto, tomahto, if Covid had not happened these stores would most likely still be in business.
- umanwizard 5y ago
  If Britain’s leaders had decided not to have lockdowns, they would most likely still be in business as well. The distinction matters, because when evaluating lockdowns it’s important to realize that there are heavy costs.
  - tonyedgecombe 5y ago
    Not really. Footfall was way down before the lockdowns started. People saw what was happening in Italy and stayed home.
  - colinmhayes 5y ago
    Most white collar workers would lock down anyway.

hkt 5y ago

The decision (taken before millennials were born) to offshore as much work as possible was taken to undercut the wages and conditions of UK (and more generally, western) workers. The quarrel shouldn't be with China though - our politicians chose this because it made the wealthy wealthier.

kazen44 5y ago
also, the removal of manufacturing capability has enourmous Geo political consequences. the chip shortage shows the pain points. as did the incident with the evergreen ship and covid-19 as a whole. outsourcing seems to also be partially motivated by undercutting the workers and focus on short term profits.

arethuza 5y ago

Quite the opposite in the town near where I live in Fife - the town centre has boomed since Covid. I suspect people popping out to shop during the day rather than commuting into Edinburgh.

dboreham 5y ago
It takes a long spoon..

mFixman 5y ago

Cannot confirm. My local farmer's market in London is stronger than ever, and two new ones opened up at walking distance from my house in the last year. Working from home and allowing people to sneak out of work on a Wednesday noon to buy groceries was a boon for farmers' markets. Places with cheap products and places with good products are striving. COVID is accelerating the death of shops that sell bad products at high prices.

vidarh 5y ago

This decline started decades ago. In the 21 years I've lived in the UK, dozens of large chains have shut down, including several large, iconic department store chains. The reality is the shift online have been going on for more 20 years at this point, and it's not at all just Amazon, and to the extent Covid had an effect it was to speed things along a ton little bit.

vanilla-almond 5y ago
There has been a big jump in online grocery delivery during the pandemic in the UK. I suspect many people are continuing with online delivery even though pandemic restrictions have eased. The pandemic really exposed some of the supermarkets and retailers with no online delivery offering (at least in the UK) e.g. Lidl, Aldi, Primark. All the supermarkets remained open during the pandemic, but the ones without the online delivery option missed the opportunity to expand in the online grocery market.
- vidarh 5y ago
  That's true, but this is not where anywhere near a majority of retail collapses in the UK has come from. Most of the large collapses started long before Covid, and even most.of the contraction during Covid has been of businesses on a solid downward trajectory long before.

blibble 5y ago

the department stores have been losing business for 10 years now covid is just finishing them off