I guess I was not clear enough in my previous post.

[MineralMan]

31. It's also the economy of scale.

Price out a major appliance at a mom an pop appliance store, if you can find one. Then, check prices at the big box stores. The difference is striking. Price them online, as well, including delivery and set-up.

If it's your money you're spending, you'll probably go with the big box store. Almost always. You can see the difference in your checkbook or credit card statement.

That's the real reason local retail businesses can't compete. They can't buy the railcar loads of some model of appliance like the big box stores do. The local appliance store doesn't have the appliance you want in stock, anyhow. They can't afford to buy products on spec.

They also can't afford fancy shopping cart websites, either. Or they won't pay for those.

I work with a heating and air conditioning company on their websites. I have been doing so for years. They stock nothing. When they have an order, they pick up the product at a local warehouse, add their profit margin, and install it for their customer. The company I work with has a small staff of technicians on the payroll. A small staff. Most of their installations, though, are done by temporary contract technicians. They cannot afford to staff for peak sales, so they don't. They're one of dozens of smaller HVAC companies in our metro area.

Check Home Depot or Lowe's for something like ductless mini-split AC systems, and then ask for a quote from a local HVAC company. You'll be shocked by the difference in price between the two prices for the actual equipment. The big box store will arrange for installation by the same bunch of temporary technicians the local HVAC companies use during peak periods. They're on rotation at the big box stores, and get called in order of that rotation. Same technicians; same products. The only difference, really, is service after the sale. The big box stores suck at that. On price, though, local HVAC companies can't compete, to the economies of scale for the actual products.