Working Against Businesses In Your Local Community!

So across the main road we have a new Tesco Express opened. In case you can't tell by the title, I'm not particularly impressed by this (the headline is a sarcastic slant on their positive-message boards that were up prior to opening 'working with your local community').

There was no need to open this there. There were two small shops opposite, and a newsagent just down the road, all of which provided the basics. There was a Londis just across the road which more than filled any need for a small supermarket, and if none of these were open the garage was open late and had a smattering of food and drink if you needed to pick something up.

Tesco is of course known for this - they will find several thriving shops, move in next to them and put them out of business. It works for a business model for them of course, and while it is horribly predatory on small businesses - open from 7am to 11pm, so no room for anyone to even compete outside the core hours - it is also depressingly predictable.

There's a good economic reason as well for opposing these intrusions. While the profit from your money spent in your local Tesco Express (and the same goes for your Sainsburys Local and all other parasitical 'local' chain shops) will eventually go towards a central corporation, that spent in local businesses is typically spent around the community. The owners of those businesses live locally, they will spend their money locally and the area actually gets cyclical investment across the board. That, needless to say, doesn't happen when your money disappears into Tesco's accounts.

The only way that these rapacious intrusions will ever be repelled is if people simply don't shop there and don't buy their products. Sadly the times I've glanced past, there have been a fair few people inside. I'm determined that I won't add to their number, however, and plan to keep using the same shops that more than sufficed before it's arrival. One customer less doesn't matter hugely - but if I'm not alone, then that will start to have an impact, and that's all I can hope that others will act the same in time.