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That's not an iron law, though. Some consumers will always choose based on price, but for others, it is a function of experience. I, for one, am happy to pay a

That's not an iron law, though. Some consumers will always choose based on price, but for others, it is a function of experience. I, for one, am happy to pay a bit more for a higher-quality product, but my experience tells me that a slightly higher price is indicative of marketing rather than product quality. So why doesn't anyone fill that niche? Perhaps in part because the market is so consolidated. There's little incentive for the small handful of major players to cannibalize their own products. So we end up largely with two options: the cheapest version of the thing that is possible to manufacture, and an extremely high-quality artisan product costing multiple times as much.

danaris 2y ago
And the more we have big businesses in charge of the economy, the more they will suppress wages, and the more people will have to buy primarily based on price.
lotsofpulp 2y ago
Grocery stores sell multiple quality products (generic/branded), and you have various quality of inventory based on the market the retailer is targeting. For example, Whole Foods/local higher end store, down to Costco/Trader Joes/Kroger, down to Aldi/Winco/etc, down to Dollar General. Then you also have lower priced stores operated by immigrants that attract more price sensitive immigrant diasporas. But broadly speaking, it would reflect the disposable wealth gap between buyers. With a widening income/wealth gap, I would expect there to only be a few viable markets to cater to, maybe even only 2. The source of the “problem”, however, would be the wealth gap, not the stores. The stores are a reflection. Another issue is also technology and instant communication making it more convenient and cheaper to use fewer vendors. Shopping and checking prices is work. If someone can drive to one big box store and get almost everything that need, they will choose to do that.

danaris 2y ago

And the more we have big businesses in charge of the economy, the more they will suppress wages, and the more people will have to buy primarily based on price.

lotsofpulp 2y ago

Grocery stores sell multiple quality products (generic/branded), and you have various quality of inventory based on the market the retailer is targeting. For example, Whole Foods/local higher end store, down to Costco/Trader Joes/Kroger, down to Aldi/Winco/etc, down to Dollar General. Then you also have lower priced stores operated by immigrants that attract more price sensitive immigrant diasporas. But broadly speaking, it would reflect the disposable wealth gap between buyers. With a widening income/wealth gap, I would expect there to only be a few viable markets to cater to, maybe even only 2. The source of the “problem”, however, would be the wealth gap, not the stores. The stores are a reflection. Another issue is also technology and instant communication making it more convenient and cheaper to use fewer vendors. Shopping and checking prices is work. If someone can drive to one big box store and get almost everything that need, they will choose to do that.