Mom and Pop Stores Threatened

Image from Common Dreams.Org

When I heard of the pending Wal-Mart entry into the Indian
marketplace my first concern was, what will become of all the
family-owned-and-operated businesses ? Many of my classmates
all through school and college aspired to own a family business,
and some of them already worked in that area after classes.

Here in Texas I have seen the power of Wal-Mart to change the
landscape and the mindscape of the American population. I had
never stepped inside a Wal-Mart until about ten years ago, and
only because I was stranded in Tuscaloosa, Alabama overnight
after an auto accident. It was just a warehouse to me back then
but now it makes sense as far as saving me trips to five
different stores to get just the basic everyday things. That's what
it means to me when I go to a large all-under-one-roof store :
convenience, low prices and no worries about hoity-toity boutique
shoppers looking askance at my presence.

Mom-and-Pop stores have always been a way of life for Indians
whether at home or abroad and it would seem that another time-
honored method of earning a living is about to be tested.
At least that's what Sanjoy Majumder of the BBC suggests: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/6667199.stm