It is very simple: Big stores have a huge cost advantage over independent stores. They have fewer employees relative to their sales volume than do the small stores. Meanwhile, they buy in volume and don't bother stocking items that have a small sales volume, which gives them a very high profit margin. It is not possible for smaller stores to compete on price; they can only compete on service.
The Ace Hardware stores seem to be bucking the trend. Although the stores are independently owned, they seem to follow a common formula: Good service and a good inventory of items the big box stores don't bother with (e.g. oddball fasteners).
As for restaurants, the chains are successful because we are creatures of habit. You can go into a McDonalds or Cracker Barrel anywhere in the country and you won't be faced with anything unfamiliar. (Which is not to say the food at chain restaurants is fit to eat, only that it is consistent.) For the most part, my wife and I avoid the chains when traveling; as a result we have had both very bad and very good meals on our trips.
Online shopping is no doubt affecting the mall stores, but they are being squeezed from other directions as well: They pay astronomical rent, while their target customers (middle-class urbanites in their twenties) are not making the kind of money they made twenty years ago.
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Today's Featured Article - Restoration Story: Fordson Major - by Anthony West. George bought his Fordson Major from a an implement sale about 18 years ago for £200.00 (UK). There is no known history regarding its origins or what service it had done, but the following work was undertaken alone to bring it up to show standard. From the engine number, it was found that this Major was produced late 1946. It was almost complete but had various parts that would definitely need replacing.
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