I remember periods when I made it a point to avoid Starbucks and get my coffee drinks at a small cart near work which appeared to be family-owned. They were nic

I remember periods when I made it a point to avoid Starbucks and get my coffee drinks at a small cart near work which appeared to be family-owned. They were nice, but the product was so inconsistent in quality -- and in general -- that I finally understood that part of it. But the rest of the reality is that you need to consider the relationship. Buying from a local-owned store doesn't really count if you're just doing a transaction and walking away. I didn't feel like discussing the drink quality, or asking for a refund, would have been appreciated, so I stopped going there. Local stores that you can't develop a relationship with might as well be megachains. Local stores that you don't WANT to develop a relationship with, making yourself a little vulnerable in the process, are another matter. America didn't just want cheap and/or consistent goods, they didn't want to have to interact with the people they were buying them from. And that's the real sad part.