It is sad indeed. A lot of character, creativity, and innovation goes with going big scale with Amazon, Walmart and co.
However, thinking a little below the surface about it, it was also inevitable. If not Amazon, someone else is going to leverage the e-commerce scale and profit from it. I see it more like the transition from CDs/DVDs to streaming media. Sure, local video stores provided community, good exploring opportunity to look at movies that may not be in your bubble, kept profits locally etc. but it was inevitable when a more efficient means comes along.
With that said, small towns will be forced to innovate yet again and do things that are actually needed and profitable to thrive. Shopping is lost to the big guys already. May be there is something else that is better done locally. Coffee shops, co-working spaces, fitness clubs, skills training centers, workshops, hobby development places etc.
However, thinking a little below the surface about it, it was also inevitable. If not Amazon, someone else is going to leverage the e-commerce scale and profit from it. I see it more like the transition from CDs/DVDs to streaming media. Sure, local video stores provided community, good exploring opportunity to look at movies that may not be in your bubble, kept profits locally etc. but it was inevitable when a more efficient means comes along.
With that said, small towns will be forced to innovate yet again and do things that are actually needed and profitable to thrive. Shopping is lost to the big guys already. May be there is something else that is better done locally. Coffee shops, co-working spaces, fitness clubs, skills training centers, workshops, hobby development places etc.