The problem with chain stores ...By Tim Redmond
.... is that even chain stores like Whole Foods, which a lot of people don't think of in the same way they think of Home Depot and Starbucks, can spell the death of locally owned, independent businesses. I love Drewes Brothers meats on Church St. The people who work there are friendly and informative, and it feels like a real butcher shop. It's also been there about 100 years.
And now, thanks to Whole Foods, it's in serious trouble.
Which means all the money that once went to a local, independent store is now going to get sucked out of town every night and off to Whole Foods HQ in Austin, Texas.
Places like Whole Foods come and go, but when you lose a Drewes Bros, it's gone forever -- and so is part of San Francisco.
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Comments (3)
Go to the butcher stop in Tower Market up on Twin Peaks - they're locally-owned and they have a great selection.
Posted by Lucretia the Troll | October 27, 2009 05:30 PM
Yup, chain stores suck, sadly SF progressives are gleefully helping the local stores that operate on a lower margin out of the city with higher taxes, parking schemes, ridiculous mandates and endless idiocy.
One wonders if the effete corps of impudent snobs down at the Bay Guardian understand that a chain store can buy vast quantities of goods at far cheaper prices than the local store could ever hope to? Thus the chain store can weather the punishing schemes of the progressives far better than the local guys could ever hope to.
A progressive in SF complaining about the loss of local business is another example of the delusional nature of true belief.
I hope to see the crazy right wing rant about the "War on Christmas" this year, and a scoffing Bay Guardian blog about how out of touch with reality the right is.
Posted by glen matlock | October 28, 2009 02:08 AM
How many people who live in SF are now employed because the Whole Foods opened? Whole Foods employs hundreds of SF residents between it's four stores in SF and it's regional office in Emeryville. How can you say that all of the money is getting sucked out of the local economy when they are employing all of these locals and supporting so many local vendors? Lev's Kombucha, 479 Popcorn and Maggie Mudd to name a few. Why is it their fault that the consumer would choose Whole Foods over the butcher shop?
Posted by pwnstar | October 29, 2009 02:33 PM