Buying groceries today was a reminder of why big supermarkets are so popular around the world and why local shopkeepers are not doing so well. Living next to one of these places that “has it all” in large stocks, it's hard to resist not crossing their door for all your daily needs, be it buying fruits, milk, bread or a fridge.
Why are they so appealing? Because they are close and big and that means it has all you can imagine and with prices cheaper than anybody else.
Well, that's not all true. Yes it's a big place and close to me, so convenient but I found out after looking for other shops in walking distance from my home that it is not really cheap and does not have the best quality of products, and not such much variety either, it has some products from most popular categories.
Fruit and vegetables are cheaper and look fresher in a fruit and veg corner shop. Also, bread tastes better, is also cheaper and there's plenty of choice too in a small breadshop that I just discovered.
Apart from this, what are the ethical reasons from buying from smaller, local shops? A big shop will employ a larger number of local people than a small one but its profit will be sent overseas unless it's not a local big supermarket chain (even then you need to check who owns it).
The experience of buying in one of these super jumbo places is bad, people are running everywhere looking for their needed products, it's hard to find someone from the shop available for answering some questions about a washing machine or other products are they are always busy with someone else.
Queues can be an hour long wait at some times of the day. All in all, it's a less human experience than going in a smaller and specialised shop, where you don't have to wait your turn and you can talk straight to the owner or someone waiting to answer your questions.
Above all, your money will go in the local economy and stay there, not be wired to some foreign country.