Mail readers and upwards are probably the only people who come into contact with independent shops now. The common herd only ever use supermarkets, and occasionally the local off licence.

That's a very sweeping generalisation, and certainly not true in my experience. Admittedly I don't use independent shops as much as I'd like, but I and others do use them. Our indy butcher had a queue of 100 people picking up their turkeys on Christmas Eve...

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I think it's less of a sweeping generalisation to suggest that "Mail readers and up" are the only people to go shopping at independent shops on a regular basis. A lot of people might make the odd trip to an independent shop (for example a local butchers in Horsham makes a killing each summer with a number of BBQ packs which spread through word of mouth and are absolutely superb), often at christmas, but week-in, week-out would generally go to a chain (in which I will also incluse Waitrose, Marks & Spencer, Co-op and Spar, just to be difficult).

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Reclaiming "methinks" for the nation

Latest blog post - 2011 - a review (updated 07/10)

They're also killing off what's left of the independent music and book retail market with their ludicrously-priced loss leaders there. Although admittedly Amazon, HMV and Waterstone's have to be apportioned their fair share of blame here.

that's also why there's so much shit in the album charts, cos middle aged housewives pick up the latest clodplay or similar bland crap on a whim while they do their weekly shop

I'm really torn by Amazon.
It's so convenient, cheap and efficient compared not only to traditional shopping, but also other on-line retailers. Yet it is wrecking so many small businesses (no real evidence for that, but I get that impression). The reviews are very useful, Prime cuts the cost of postage, the returns policy is exemplary.
I use it all the time for all sorts of goods, but it makes me feel guilty.

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Where there is great doubt, there will be great awakening; small doubt, small awakening, no doubt, no awakening.

i've never gotten on with amazon for book buying. i buy a lot of art books, so being able to flick through them is important. i know amazon do have that "look inside" option, but, with the copyright, titles, and intro pages, for most of them you never get onto the actual book content.

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Unless it's hard-to-find I don't tend to buy books on Amazon but I do use it a lot for music - there's no independent retailer in Plymouth that specialises in what I listen to (and about two overall), HMV is awful and they have a lot of stuff on the MP3 store that's otherwise out-of-print (most of the Sarah Records output is on there for example). I try to buy as much as possible from Spillers when I'm in Cardiff but, again, Amazon really is very cheap and very convenient. I think it's even worse with bookshops though, I can't find a decent independent bookshop for love or money and even second-hand ones that aren't charity shops are getting rarer and rarer. Waterstone's having destroyed almost all its competition it's gotten gradually more dreadful, and with no real alternative (on the high street at least) it can get away with it.

You're not one of the common herd. In what used to be known as working-class communities independent shops have been driven to virtual extinction by the arrival of supermarkets. I know plenty of once-thriving small town centres which now consist of charity shops, fast food joints, the occasional estate agent or Cash Convertors and a big Asda/Tesco on the roundabout at the top of the by-pass.

Ask an Amazon supplier what they think of them:

"Yes, we'll stock your books, We want 60% discount and you'll have to pay for anything you send that doesn't arrive in perfect condition, or we can't shift. And we want FoC copies for publicity purposes"

"Make that 62% if you want the same payment date. Otherwise add another thirty days."

"No, we didn't tell you we'd changed our payment procedure. Send us another load of invoices and they'll go to the back of the queue."

It's been shit for years. Was it any better when middle aged housewives were picking up the crap from woolworths?

Not sure whether this should go here or under 'Mail hypocrisy', but I got a junk email from the Mail and guess what was in it? - "And in The Mail on Sunday, there's £5 off your shopping at Tesco ! It's another unmissable weekend in the Mail! "

And are we saying they shouldn't be allowed to buy what they want?

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Where there is great doubt, there will be great awakening; small doubt, small awakening, no doubt, no awakening.

when cirtain supermarkets decide they're not going to stock an album in the top ten because they disaprove of the cover art, people aren't being allowed to buy what they want.

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i have an art blog: http://procrastinationathon.blogspot.com/
and a review blog: http://blindwithwoodenhands.blogspot.com/
double blog! what does it mean?

I have no guilt whatsoever about using Amazon or Tesco for books/music. Amazon are cheap, convenient, good, quick and even give you the option to get second-hand copies even cheaper, AND to sell your own stuff with the minimum of fuss. As a customer, I love them and I'm not going to apologise for that. Bookshops have to specialise now - the market for general bookshops has changed permanently and radically since Amazon came along and, as always in retail, nobody owes booksellers a living just because they've been around a long time. If they can provide something that Amazon can't, they'll survive. As to Tesco selling books and music, great. If I want to buy something new and popular and they've got it for half-price, why should I go into town, pay to park and then pay more for the item? Sorry to be so plebeian about this, but I'm afraid sentimentality about independent shops of any kind is not me at all. If they're good, they'll do well. If not, cheerio.

As for 'that's also why there's so much shit in the album charts, cos middle aged housewives pick up the latest clodplay or similar bland crap on a whim while they do their weekly shop'
- well, perhaps all middle-aged housewives should be picked off by snipers before they can approach the music section? Or tied to a chair and forced to listen to music of your choice?

Or here's a thought - ignore the album charts. Classic FM charts are full of crap as well, but nobody forces me to buy Bocelli straining his not-that-great voice or Katherine Jenkins pouting at the microphone when I'd rather have something decent.