Retail's Slow Suicide
Every couple of months, it’s the same story here in Cork. City officials try to change how things are done in Cork, and the retailers are up in arms, foaming at the mouth at the very concept that someone would DARE to make a change that might possibly affect them in a negative way. This is usually followed up by some local bigwig trying to boost his popularity ratings by spouting some empty phrases about „buying local“, and how e-commerce is killing local retail. I usually throw up in my mouth a little when I read that, something which is regularly followed with a full-on outburst when I read the usual nationalist drivel in the comment sections below the respective press articles. There certainly appears to be a small but noisy part of the local population that has long since flushed their last remaining brain cells down the drain. Snarky comments aside, the appearance of online platforms such as Amazon has turned out to be a real challenge for many high-street shops, both independe...