Plastic, bland, and abstract.

Profit drives the pursuit of big. Bigger stores = bigger profits. This is vicious, cold, and heartless mission. It discourages personal quality. Communities can only get this personal quality back if they run shops as a way of life rather than in pursuit of money. Christopher Alexander states in his classic book, A Pattern Language, “Do what you can to encourage the development of individually owned shops. Keep shops small and rent low.” He goes on to emphasize, “We must do all we can to keep the wealth generated by the local community in the hands of that community.”

Bring back the personality of the city by supporting businesses owned by those people who actually work and manage the store.