In Praise of Chain Stores

The Atlantic Online ^ | December 2006 | Virginia Postrel

[SamAdams76]

Every well-traveled cosmop­olite knows that America is mind-numbingly monotonous—the most boring country to tour, because everywhere looks like everywhere else,” as the columnist Thomas Friedman once told Charlie Rose. Boston has the same stores as Denver, which has the same stores as Charlotte or Seattle or Chicago. We live in a “Stepford world,” says Rachel Dresbeck, the author of Insiders’ Guide to Portland, Oregon. Even Boston’s historic Faneuil Hall, she complains, is “dominated by the Gap, Anthropologie, Starbucks, and all the other usual suspects. Why go anywhere? Every place looks the same.” This complaint is more than the old worry, dating back to the 1920s, that the big guys are putting Mom and Pop out of business. Today’s critics focus less on what isn’t there—Mom and Pop—than on what is. Faneuil Hall actually has plenty of locally owned businesses, from the Geoclassics store selling minerals and jewelry, to Pizzeria Regina (“since 1926”). But you do find the same chains everywhere.

[CitizenUSA]

Mom and pop stores are gone because they are inefficient (exception: certain niche markets). What rational person would want to pay significant markup and have less to choose from simply to keep an outmoded and inefficient business model going? Personally, I like the idea I can travel anywhere in the US (and many parts of the world) and still pick up a Big Mac when I want one.

[pollyannaish]

People who mostly stay put get to have experiences once available only to frequent travelers, and this loss of exclusivity is one reason why frequent travelers are the ones who complain.

This is a terrific article. Thanks for posting it.

[Don Corleone]

Why go anywhere?

Better weather and good golf courses!

[xjcsa]

Reference ping to a great article...

[Thud]

ping

[ErnBatavia]

travel anywhere in the US (and many parts of the world) and still pick up a Big Mac when I want one.

About 8 years ago, I arrived in Perth, Western Australia after the long trip from Los Angeles. I was hungry and needed to stretch my legs so I found a MacDonald's about 2 blocks from the hotel. The Big Mac tasted entirely unlike anything I'd ever had stateside. It really sucked, but the fries were good!

[Dog Gone]

Perhaps the happiest day of my life is when my family stumbled upon a Wendy's restaurant in Athens.

We had been eating squid eyeballs wrapped in soggy grape leaves smothered in stinky goat cheese for a week. We were about to starve.

We coulda died without that chain....

[CORedneck]

When I travel on vacation, I make it a point NOT to patronize corporate chain restaurants. In other words, if I can get it at home, then I pass. I like to experience the unique places in a given travel destination.

Once each year, I travel to California in late Spring and one town, Davis CA, there are pretty good places to eat at in downtown. In fact one place - Crepeville, they do not even take credit cards ! The food is good. I cannot get it at home in Colorado.

[freedomfiter2]

Why go anywhere?

Hunting seasons don't follow the same schedule and fishing varies from place to place.

[Larry Lucido]

Why go anywhere? Because there is only one Grand Canyon, one Santa Fe, one Mauna Loa volcano, one Mt. McKinley, one Everglades, etc. etc. You can't see all that staying in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

And no matter where you go, only a small percentage of the stores are chains. And thank God they are there. It's comforting to find a McDonald's for a quick breakfast on the go, alongside a local Little Rock diner where you can get real grits and buiscuits and sausage gravy with your eggs if you prefer. It's a damned myth that once city is like another. They just all happen to now offer more choices than were once available.

[CitizenUSA]

ErnBatavia wrote: "The Big Mac tasted entirely unlike anything I'd ever had stateside."

Yeah. I think McDonalds varies the food a bit depending on what's available locally. I ate at a McDonalds in Turkey once. Its food tasted pretty similar to the US stuff.

[Libertarianchick]

There is nothing wrong with local culture or chains. You sample the local flavor when you are adventurous, and when you're tired and hungry and homesick, you go to Cracker Barrel. :)

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

There is nothing wrong with local culture or chains. You sample the local flavor when you are adventurous, and when you're tired and hungry and homesick, you go to Cracker Barrel. :)

Choice. What a concept!

Think it will catch on?

[Rb ver. 2.0]

But there is only one place that serves a "big" salad.

[VirginiaConstitutionalist]

Mom and pop stores are gone because they are inefficient (exception: certain niche markets).

Not to mention that many Mom & Pop stores pleased their customers, had a lot of babies and became chains themselves. It's not like Sam Walton started out with $500 billion and 1,000 stores.

[CitizenUSA]

VirginiaConstitutionalist wrote: "It's not like Sam Walton started out with $500 billion and 1,000 stores."

Good point!

[Old Professer]

I've often wondered what it is like to breathe pure ozone...

[ErnBatavia]

Speaking of non-chain, wifey and I still fondly remember this place from 20 years ago:

http://atlanta.metblogs.com/archives/2005/12/the_lantern_inn.phtml

[Larry Lucido]

LOL!!