4 ms·

Guessing by your examples that you are American. Maybe you are aware, or perhaps not, that in Europe many view your culture as the one that has taken this to it

Guessing by your examples that you are American. Maybe you are aware, or perhaps not, that in Europe many view your culture as the one that has taken this to its extreme. Some envy it, some don’t.

tsss 4mo ago
Don't act as if the cities in Europe look any different. I don't know what a "subscribe n save is" but I can find a Western Union, gambling hall and vape shop on every street corner.
- plastic-enjoyer 4mo ago
  > Don't act as if the cities in Europe look any different They do look different, claiming otherwise is just American cope
  - bigblind 4mo ago
    I feel like they do and they don't at the same time. The buildings may look different, but city center rents driving out a lot of small local businesses, and leaving the same brands everywhere.
    - plastic-enjoyer 4mo ago
      You are right, that the city centers are often heavily commodified to the point where they do not differ from other cities anymore. However, European cities are not just the city center, you have a lot of different districts where the commodification has not progressed to this degree as in the city centers. Case in point, you often do have small grocery stores in those districts, mostly owned by immigrants or they are some kind of organic food store.
      - eszed 4mo ago
        You're right, too, but also in the European chain stores - Carrefour and Spar, and the like - I see more quality produce and local cheese and regional products than I do in North American equivalents. They're sold right alongside the commodity, international-brand stuff, and usually is price-competitive. The best apples I ate on my last trip to Spain I bought in a motorway services; they looked like they'd been grown next door, and maybe had been.
      - triceratops 4mo ago
        American cities also have ethnic neighborhoods, immigrant-owned grocery stores, and organic food stores.
  - tsss 4mo ago
    I'm not American. I live in Europe and know very well how it is here.
spwa4 4mo ago
Where in Europe do you find large amounts of small stores? (and for real, not fake). Or is your point that Europe has a different supermarket chain per country? Malls have the same stores across countries ... but they differ, somewhat, if you move from one country to the next. And they're fake. Every company has 3-4 store brands these days so malls have 4-5 stores that look different, but aren't. So ... what a difference that makes? (I mean, I get that it does make a difference. Carrefour clearly takes some pride in their chocolate selection and aldi ... well it's an insult to any product to be sold at aldi. But culture in shopping in the EU? Where do you find that?)
- plastic-enjoyer 4mo ago
  Depends on what city you live in, and what part of the city you live in.
- VileSquirrel 4mo ago
  > Where in Europe do you find large amounts of small stores? (and for real, not fake) I live in a small european town and all the followings are found less than 3 minutes away from my home: butcher, baker, shoes store, newspaper store, convenience store, barber. The town hosts a market once a week that sells more divers products, and many people do shop there. Some of the stores are owned and operated by descendants of those who owned them 60 years ago, all have their owner working in the store. Maybe you won't consider that to be "large amounts of small stores" but that is somewhat the point: all my basic needs can be covered by a handful of small stores. Granted that type of life and town has become less representative over time, but I heard the trend is now to go back to the countryside as people flee the big cities.
  - spwa4 4mo ago
    I also live in a small European town and there is a convenience store and a hairdresser. Oh and restaurants. That's it. Doesn't matter if you go to neighboring towns, they're the same. One of the neighboring towns has a supermarket, an Aldi. I am also old enough to remember what it looked like in 1985.
hattmall 4mo ago
Oh absolutely. It's also a specific segments of America. I hope Europe and elsewhere can resist but it really requires regulation because people in general are too easy to steer via advertising and convenience value propositions. Definitely places in the US where you want find this commoditization of experience.

Guessing by your examples that you are American. Maybe you are aware, or perhaps not, that in Europe many view your culture as the one that has taken this to its extreme. Some envy it, some don’t.

tsss 4mo ago

Don't act as if the cities in Europe look any different. I don't know what a "subscribe n save is" but I can find a Western Union, gambling hall and vape shop on every street corner.

plastic-enjoyer 4mo ago
> Don't act as if the cities in Europe look any different They do look different, claiming otherwise is just American cope
- bigblind 4mo ago
  I feel like they do and they don't at the same time. The buildings may look different, but city center rents driving out a lot of small local businesses, and leaving the same brands everywhere.
  - plastic-enjoyer 4mo ago
    You are right, that the city centers are often heavily commodified to the point where they do not differ from other cities anymore. However, European cities are not just the city center, you have a lot of different districts where the commodification has not progressed to this degree as in the city centers. Case in point, you often do have small grocery stores in those districts, mostly owned by immigrants or they are some kind of organic food store.
    - eszed 4mo ago
      You're right, too, but also in the European chain stores - Carrefour and Spar, and the like - I see more quality produce and local cheese and regional products than I do in North American equivalents. They're sold right alongside the commodity, international-brand stuff, and usually is price-competitive. The best apples I ate on my last trip to Spain I bought in a motorway services; they looked like they'd been grown next door, and maybe had been.
    - triceratops 4mo ago
      American cities also have ethnic neighborhoods, immigrant-owned grocery stores, and organic food stores.
- tsss 4mo ago
  I'm not American. I live in Europe and know very well how it is here.

spwa4 4mo ago

Where in Europe do you find large amounts of small stores? (and for real, not fake). Or is your point that Europe has a different supermarket chain per country? Malls have the same stores across countries ... but they differ, somewhat, if you move from one country to the next. And they're fake. Every company has 3-4 store brands these days so malls have 4-5 stores that look different, but aren't. So ... what a difference that makes? (I mean, I get that it does make a difference. Carrefour clearly takes some pride in their chocolate selection and aldi ... well it's an insult to any product to be sold at aldi. But culture in shopping in the EU? Where do you find that?)

plastic-enjoyer 4mo ago
Depends on what city you live in, and what part of the city you live in.
VileSquirrel 4mo ago
> Where in Europe do you find large amounts of small stores? (and for real, not fake) I live in a small european town and all the followings are found less than 3 minutes away from my home: butcher, baker, shoes store, newspaper store, convenience store, barber. The town hosts a market once a week that sells more divers products, and many people do shop there. Some of the stores are owned and operated by descendants of those who owned them 60 years ago, all have their owner working in the store. Maybe you won't consider that to be "large amounts of small stores" but that is somewhat the point: all my basic needs can be covered by a handful of small stores. Granted that type of life and town has become less representative over time, but I heard the trend is now to go back to the countryside as people flee the big cities.
- spwa4 4mo ago
  I also live in a small European town and there is a convenience store and a hairdresser. Oh and restaurants. That's it. Doesn't matter if you go to neighboring towns, they're the same. One of the neighboring towns has a supermarket, an Aldi. I am also old enough to remember what it looked like in 1985.

hattmall 4mo ago

Oh absolutely. It's also a specific segments of America. I hope Europe and elsewhere can resist but it really requires regulation because people in general are too easy to steer via advertising and convenience value propositions. Definitely places in the US where you want find this commoditization of experience.