RE: [xml-dev] XML for Video, Pizza Shops & TakeOut

[Joshua Allen <joshuaa@microsoft.com>]

> But what I'd really want is the nearest NON-CHAIN store.
> Products funneling me exclusively to BigCo products are not
> in the interest of this consumer (or, arguably, most of them).
> 

That is an interesting point about chains and e-commerce.  The Internet
was supposed to make global commerce more accessible to the
independents, but in many ways it gives an advantage to the big places.
For example, since a chain like Rite-Aid has branches everywhere, I can
go online and request a refill even if I am in Florida, and it will be
filled at the nearest location.  Same deal with book stores -- when you
mix brick-and-mortar chains with online, you can do things like look up
a book online and request that it be held at the nearest Borders with
stock so you can go pick it up without waiting for UPS (too bad Borders
or B&N doesn't do that).  One potential answer to this dilemma is to
have the independents pool their resources and provide a service.  For
example, www.cornerdrugstore.com lets me shop online at a number of
independent pharmacies.  This beats having all of them maintain their
own sites, because I feel as if I have more freedom to "shop around" and
compare prices.  And I also know that I only have to remember one URL to
get a whole variety of stores rather than one chain.  Obviously this
idea doesn't work for everything, and the scope of the bureau has to be
sufficiently narrow; but I thought this was an interesting example of
how the independents can provide a competitive alternative to the
monolithic services.