They can also charge for shelf space and better placement

Everyone wants you to walk passed items. Small stores still put milk and bread in the back, soda and candy by registers.

It's not as if small businesses aren't interested in making money. The difference between small and big is that you can only have so many customers walking around your small store before people just turn around and leave if they can't find what they need, if the aisles are too crowded and/or small, or if lines are long. Big stores can hold that same amount of people, and it looks empty, so they don't have to worry as much about capacity issues affecting sales.

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