When I was a kid, I lived in a Chicago suburb with a thriving and quaint downtown shopping area. It wasn’t a mall or a strip mall - I mean a real downtown with a train station, neighborhood bank, farmer’s market, city hall and little one-of-a-kind shops that were owned by people who lived in our town.
Although many businesses have come and gone since I was a kid (not THAT long ago!), technology and the Internet has changed the way we do business, plain and simple. Some of the shops that used to dot our neighborhood shopping areas will simply never come back to a brick-and-mortar way of doing business. Others are ‘endangered species’ - ones that with just a little more momentum will be gone in the next few years.
Sometimes the culprit was the convenience or advancement of the Internet. Others, it was the in-store technology of large chain stores that made it easier and cheaper to carry a wider variety of products.
In all cases, business found a cheaper and more efficient way to deliver in-demand products. In the end, it also meant that many small mom-and-pop stores either have had to change with the times or go out of business.
- Record/CD Stores
- 1 Hour Photo Shops
- Video Rental
- Camera Stores
- Neighborhood Bookstores
- Niche Art or Craft Stores
- Travel Agencies
- Neighborhood Grocery Stores
- Neighborhood Movie Theaters
- Independent Pharmacies
9 Responses to “The 10 Small Businesses that are Being Killed by Technology”
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June 14th, 2007 at 9:02 pm
[…] industries negatively. Here is a list of some small businesses that I am talking about taken from this article about small businesses negatively affected by technology 1. Record/CD Stores 2. 1 Hour Photo Shops 3. Video Rental 4. Camera Stores 5. Neighborhood […]
June 14th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
[…] of technology, whether it’s the Internet or in-house technology used by big store chains.read more | digg […]
June 16th, 2007 at 9:23 pm
Do you have any data to support your top ten? I expected to see a link to somewhere/somewho regarding a study that was conducted…
June 17th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
[…] written by wendy piersall […]
June 20th, 2007 at 2:04 am
The world changes - business changes - technology overturns older models and opens opportunities on new ones.
Ultimately the consumer makes similar demands in different ways, and companies always need to adapt to those changing ways.
Change isn’t bad - it’s simply business.
2c.
June 20th, 2007 at 11:57 am
[…] Here’s some of the good reads I’ve been consuming over the last week or so. If you like these, I also have a shared feed from Google reader you can subscribe to. Or view my previous archives. 10 businesses that were killed (or failed to evolve) because of the internet […]
June 22nd, 2007 at 12:45 pm
Perhaps things are different in some western countries. Here in the part of Australia where I live some of those small businesses you have listed are fading away but others on your list are booming.
August 6th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
I grew up in a similar environment, Wendy. New Jersey was known for having plenty of small towns with downtowns as the corner stone. To this day, many downtowns are thriving simply because of one reason: they remade themselves. No, you may not find the butcher, the baker, and candlestick maker all on one block, but you’ll find people who give excellent customer service and advice.
There are times when I simply go to the local merchant to make my purchase in order to support what they do. Price is important, but the human factor of top notch customer service is important too.
October 28th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
[…] read more | digg story […]