Oh yeah +1 to Argos and Lakeland. A little bit pricier, but worth it for the superior quality. I love my OXO can opener lol

In the past I’m sure it used to be the case that generally Amazon was the cheapest option for things like books and games. And quite rapidly they came to control more areas of the retail market. For a lot of people I know, Amazon represents the most affordable and convenient option in their minds when shopping for ANY product. But whilst this may be true in certain cases, it’s actually not for many others. I think there’s some psychology going on which prevents people from wanting to shop elsewhere, or realising that products could be cheaper if they did so. The convenience of fast shipping, the dopamine hit of ordering something and the associated anticipation, and the supposed ‘great deals’ of the big sales. It blinds people to the fact that local is often cheaper and better.

I don’t know your situation of course, but I think going to places and talking to people is generally a good thing :) I sometimes dread social interactions, but only by actually interacting with others can I improve.

I guess in that case there are usually specialist independent websites. It might not local, but at least it’s not Amazon.

Oh yeah for sure - buying clothes online really isn’t fun. I dread to think how much energy and effort is wasted shipping these items back and forth when someone buys something online and then returns it. I think to some extent the modern internet has trained people to leave everything until the last minute and rely on fast shipping. Rather than plan to physically visit a store a few days in advance, things are done online the day beforehand using a vastly inferior system.

Oh that’s such a good idea! I haven’t seen that over here but I hope it catches on

It’s a great little shop - tons of games to play, reasonable table charges and some really great cocktails too! I love seeing companies like that thriving.