Once upon a time, in a quiet little town, many residents strolled the streets picking up their groceries and household essentials for the week in the many surrounding shops. Then one by one shops became fewer and far between, until one shop got so big that it left the others struggling beneath its feet.
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Australia's two major supermarkets have been accused of monopolising the grocery market and increasing shares in your wallet. The two supermarket giants have evolved far beyond milk and bread, undercutting growers and forcing high prices on consumers. Now, the magnates want to be your bank, your pub, your pharmacy and your newsagency.
Sauntering down the aisles of the big named supermarkets there isn’t much that can’t be acquired by the rows of assorted goods, better still, there are a variety of brands; the same product sold in 10 different packages.
Recently, discussion surrounding the end of Tatts lottery moratorium has caused many small business owners, who rely vastly on the revenue from such lottery sales, to anxiously hold their breath. The issue being that if the sale of lottery tickets expands to these supermarkets there would be no reason for people to leave the comfort of the beautifully air conditioned stores that provide such a diverse range of products. And really, who could blame us for wanting this convenience, we are far too busy to walk further than the car park and 20 aisles of these stores, time is a precious commodity.
They know it too.
It’s a David versus Goliath tale, the magnanimous giants stamp their feet and we quiver. What is a small town to do? Apparently not roll over, our town has put 600 names on a petition that has been on the newsagency counter for two weeks, perhaps this is a reflection of the love Yass has for the store owners the Greggs, conceivably it’s because many people that live here are employed or own small businesses and are terrified of sharing a similar fate. Or the fear that Yass’ streets will become deserted like something out of a country and western film.
Perhaps it is because they are fed up with blow-in giants running their town.
Maybe it’s time to look to politicians for a larger view, to partially recreate or preserve the independent retail sector, if not to stop any devastating blows to the town, maybe just to enhanced powers for local councils to protect retail competitiveness.
Putting flesh back onto the notion of small communities and life back into social mobility.
