Can small independent shops still cater for all budgets?

An experience at a local florist challenged my love of small businesses. Can they really offer something for everyone, asks Caroline Bullock

(Getty/iStock)

I have a fondness for small businesses, especially those with history, a few generations behind them and plying a trade rendered increasingly niche in a shortcut-heavy world. There’s much to admire about an established offering thriving despite the many challenges independent businesses face. It is an appreciation that’s grown the longer I’ve spent chronicling their fortunes.

I’m also reminded that many of the independent businesses I’ve written about have a good story to tell which can fuel a rose-tinted view with certain expectations about the broader sector. As a punter, the reality can be more variable. “Buy small, buy local” is a pretty ingrained mantra these days, an automatic shoo-in for superior quality and service. But I’m less sure. At times it seems like we’re told so often we must support them that we forget to be a bit more discerning.

Once in a while, a bit like those awful tearooms with overpriced food and dirty tables but heaving with captive customers because of the idyllic location, consumer goodwill isn’t always rewarded. I was reminded of this recently when buying a flower bouquet for my mother’s birthday.