Supermarket and convenience store consolidation also, I'm told, led to consolidation in book distribution--which led, in turn, to fewer book titles being offered in mass market, a consolidation on the bestseller lists, and the collapse of the mass market paperback. The story as I've heard it: In the old days, individual supermarkets and gas stations would have mass market book racks filled with books by local distributors, who'd know if, for example, science fiction titles sold more in this neighborhood, or westerns, or romance (and, if romance, which subcategory?).
As supermarkets and convenience stores all rolled up, corporate didn't want to trouble itself with dozens or hundreds of small book distributors, so they started choosing one distributor for large swaths of the country, and working with them. But those deals weren't to stock different books in different stores based on local knowledge--they were to stock the same books in every store. Easier that way.
So, now, if you don't live near a dedicated bookstore--and a lot of people don't--your choices are (more or less) between the same ten or fifteen books stocked by every CVS in the country, and online mega-retail. And even a site like Amazon doesn't match the discoverability power of seeing a neat cover in the wire rack by the checkout aisle of the local grocery store. Those wire racks used to sell a lot of books, even in the mid-list. They launched and sustained a lot of careers. And that channel just doesn't exist any more, for most authors.
Similar situation in most of Europe. Especially UK (although regulators did prevent 2 big chains merging a couple of years ago: Sainsbury's and ASDA. But did let Tesco and wholesaler/franchisor Booker merge).
That's why our local farmers' markets are so important. I can think of two businesses that got their start selling their products at farmers' markets. One makes a selection of spice blends, dressings, and marinades and the other makes pies. The dressing maker now sells her products in her own brick and mortar store as well as in two local grocery chains, and the pie guy now sells his pies to restaurants, delis, and online. No way was Walmart or Whole Foods going to carry their products.
This is a problem I've noticed for the past few years as well and it's really started bothering me. There are several products now that I've discovered and started buying because they were great, only to suddenly have them disappear, no longer stocked by the store. And more often than not, the store brand either replaced it or was already there and remained (so still essentially replacing it), only the store brand isn't as good in most cases, or doesn't have the same options.
Unfortunately, like so many of these types of issues, we've brought this on ourselves. For years, we've bought the store brand because it's essentially the same (I've often heard they even come from the same plant, the same exact line, and just get different packaging or even just a different label sometimes) but much cheaper. But it's still nice to have that choice, and I'm getting frustrated at that being taken away. While I'll often buy a store brand when given the choice, I'd like to have the option to buy something else, and when they take that away, it simply causes me to try to buy *less* of the store brand, not more. I've actually significantly decreased the amount of items I buy at a couple stores because of this. Problem is, there's so few good options and they're all getting bad about it.
As much as I hate to say it, because as a company they're terrible, Wal-Mart's store brand items at least are generally good quality, with healthy ingredients, whereas most other stores I've seen are not.
Supermarket and convenience store consolidation also, I'm told, led to consolidation in book distribution--which led, in turn, to fewer book titles being offered in mass market, a consolidation on the bestseller lists, and the collapse of the mass market paperback. The story as I've heard it: In the old days, individual supermarkets and gas stations would have mass market book racks filled with books by local distributors, who'd know if, for example, science fiction titles sold more in this neighborhood, or westerns, or romance (and, if romance, which subcategory?).
As supermarkets and convenience stores all rolled up, corporate didn't want to trouble itself with dozens or hundreds of small book distributors, so they started choosing one distributor for large swaths of the country, and working with them. But those deals weren't to stock different books in different stores based on local knowledge--they were to stock the same books in every store. Easier that way.
So, now, if you don't live near a dedicated bookstore--and a lot of people don't--your choices are (more or less) between the same ten or fifteen books stocked by every CVS in the country, and online mega-retail. And even a site like Amazon doesn't match the discoverability power of seeing a neat cover in the wire rack by the checkout aisle of the local grocery store. Those wire racks used to sell a lot of books, even in the mid-list. They launched and sustained a lot of careers. And that channel just doesn't exist any more, for most authors.
Similar situation in most of Europe. Especially UK (although regulators did prevent 2 big chains merging a couple of years ago: Sainsbury's and ASDA. But did let Tesco and wholesaler/franchisor Booker merge).
That's why our local farmers' markets are so important. I can think of two businesses that got their start selling their products at farmers' markets. One makes a selection of spice blends, dressings, and marinades and the other makes pies. The dressing maker now sells her products in her own brick and mortar store as well as in two local grocery chains, and the pie guy now sells his pies to restaurants, delis, and online. No way was Walmart or Whole Foods going to carry their products.
This is a problem I've noticed for the past few years as well and it's really started bothering me. There are several products now that I've discovered and started buying because they were great, only to suddenly have them disappear, no longer stocked by the store. And more often than not, the store brand either replaced it or was already there and remained (so still essentially replacing it), only the store brand isn't as good in most cases, or doesn't have the same options.
Unfortunately, like so many of these types of issues, we've brought this on ourselves. For years, we've bought the store brand because it's essentially the same (I've often heard they even come from the same plant, the same exact line, and just get different packaging or even just a different label sometimes) but much cheaper. But it's still nice to have that choice, and I'm getting frustrated at that being taken away. While I'll often buy a store brand when given the choice, I'd like to have the option to buy something else, and when they take that away, it simply causes me to try to buy *less* of the store brand, not more. I've actually significantly decreased the amount of items I buy at a couple stores because of this. Problem is, there's so few good options and they're all getting bad about it.
As much as I hate to say it, because as a company they're terrible, Wal-Mart's store brand items at least are generally good quality, with healthy ingredients, whereas most other stores I've seen are not.