THERE can be no doubt that the post-war rise of the supermarkets has improved the lives of millions of Scots.
But it would be a pity if their proliferation on our high streets in their slimmed-down, "Local" or "Express" forms were to come at the cost of the nation's legion of small shops, as would appear to be the case with a long-established outlet in Edinburgh's New Town.
Such an outcome would be far too high a price to pay, for many corner shops offer much more than mere convenience. They are often prized community assets, with many shopkeepers having built up a relationship with their customers over many years. For some, particularly the elderly, the local shop can be a lifeline, offering an oasis of friendliness in what is can be a disconnected world. A cheery greeting and a chat while picking up a few groceries is often worth the few extra pennies that may be involved.
The corner shop may well be a noticeboard for the area, advertising everything from whist drives to handymen services, helping to boost local trades, while its profits tend to stay within the community. This is one area of life where small is definitely beautiful.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article