BIGS GET BIGGER, MOM & POPS GO BUST

As we have long forecast, thanks to the sellout, i.e., buying off politicians cheaply and destroying anti-trust laws, despite what We the People want in what used to be called the “Land of Opportunity, the “Bigs” keep getting bigger as the Mom & Pops get taken down.
A 20 May 2021 article on StudyFinds.org reports on a survey of how the COVID War and its economic impact has affected Americans’ shopping and buying habits, particularly concerning “big box” stores vs. “mom & pop” businesses. 
Half of the 2,000 respondents reported that they had seen their favorite local businesses close down because of COVID-19. Nearly two-thirds have seen such businesses struggle to stay afloat.
The majority of respondents say they want small businesses to thrive, and they believe small businesses are an integral part of their communities. Roughly two-thirds say they don’t mind paying more to shop small local stores and that, since the pandemic, they’ve been buying local more frequently.
More than half of those surveyed claim they won’t shop at big chain stores again because of how the pandemic has affected small businesses.
Grounds for Skepticism
This survey invites some skepticism because the hard data proves Big Box stores selling non-essential goods alongside merchandise termed “essential” are thriving under the draconian rules imposed by politicians who ordered the lockdown of small stores selling “non-essential” goods. 
Also, there has been a rise in “recreational shopping” by people who, due to COVID-19 restrictions, have had many of their normal outside-the-home activities (including even going to work) curtailed.