Small town-center shops are running out of business because of an increasing number of large out-of-town stores. To what extent do the disadvantages of this development outweigh the advantages?
With the development of cities, increasing number of families has got their own vehicle, which promoted the business of large out-of-town stores. Meanwhile, a great number of small town-center shops people used to go are running out of business.
To our daily life, this phenomenon has brought numerous advantages. First of all, large-scale stores can provide high-quality service. Usually large stores would have standardized service progress and professional work teams, and undoubtedly, they have considerable fund for these which is small shops could never afford. Secondly, their price is much more reasonable; many stores greatly reduce the prices to make a quick turnover, and it is obvious a win-win situation. The third but not the last one, they have an advantage over their location---they have place for parking. It is much more convenient comparing with the shops in the city-center with no space nearby to build parking. People can get on their car directly after shopping instead of carrying the heavy bags walking long distances to a parking lot or bus stop.
This situation concerned a lot of people, however. For one reason, it is difficult to access these out-town shops without cars, so a growing number of people using cars may lead to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions and fuel consumptions. In addition to that, the increase in motor vehicles also cause extra burden to the traffic system.
On the basis of the above discussion, I would assert that the transport problem is the key factor, and I believe that an improvement of public transportation would solve this problem effectively.
