COVID-19 pandemic sees Europeans heading back to local shops
The health crisis is encouraging Europeans, and particularly the French, to visit their local bakery. Image: IStock/philipimage via AFP Relaxnews.
Local corner shops are proving key for neighborhood amid the global health crisis. A vast Mastercard survey showed that 3 out of 4 Europeans are currently shopping in their local stores. Bakeries, in particular, are benefitting from the emerging trend.
Corner shops, cafes, bakeries. The COVID-19 pandemic is prompting us to rediscover small, nearby businesses that we took for granted. Seventy-four percent of those surveyed for the Mastercard report opt to run their errands in local shops.
Since the lockdown period, half of the Europeans surveyed have realized that these local businesses are rather convenient, with 40% noting these businesses allow them to avoid long supermarket lines and 31% choosing them in order to limit their travel.
Even better than a rediscovery of one’s neighborhood, this new habit is also a way to help the local community bounce back, with 50% of the Europeans surveyed stating that as a reason for supporting local businesses.
The result is a reshaping of local European community networks with schools, cafes and bakeries taking the position of the three staples of neighborhood life. This survey was conducted among 13,000 people in 16 European countries last September. CC
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