There’s a nice piece in the Boston Globe illustrating the passion that at least some folks feel for their local food retailer. In Chatham, Massachusetts, one of the nicest towns on Cape Cod, residents are fighting the decision by a local landlord not to renew the lease of the independent Chatham Village Market, the only grocer in town, and instead bring in a CVS.
“In Chatham and elsewhere on the Cape, some residents believe they face a choice: Fight, or let the place they treasure slip away. What many fear is the arrival of fast-food chains, box stores, and strip malls that have sprawled across some parts of the Cape, especially Route 28 as it runs through Hyannis on its way to Chatham … Supporters of the market say its small size and personal service recall a time before big chains, and its location, walking distance from senior and affordable housing, makes it essential. The owners - four former A&P employees who took over when the chain pulled out six years ago - work the aisles beside shoppers and greet them by name. They take orders by phone for delivery and stock the coolers with $6.99 reheatable dinners.”
“In Chatham and elsewhere on the Cape, some residents believe they face a choice: Fight, or let the place they treasure slip away. What many fear is the arrival of fast-food chains, box stores, and strip malls that have sprawled across some parts of the Cape, especially Route 28 as it runs through Hyannis on its way to Chatham … Supporters of the market say its small size and personal service recall a time before big chains, and its location, walking distance from senior and affordable housing, makes it essential. The owners - four former A&P employees who took over when the chain pulled out six years ago - work the aisles beside shoppers and greet them by name. They take orders by phone for delivery and stock the coolers with $6.99 reheatable dinners.”
- KC's View:
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Chatham always has been one of my favorite places on Cape Cod, and I am highly sympathetic to the local reaction. Speaking purely as a consumer here, I think this is where citizens have every right to flex their muscles to fight such changes.
After all, big companies and industries think nothing of lobbying on their own behalf…why shouldn't individual citizens do the same?
Not that this is necessarily a popular opinion in the business community.
