Shops must cater to the customer's needs and wants to stay in business. For people who have idealistic vision of independent mom and pop shops, I used to live in a rural area with nothing but mom and pop shops. If you thought service was bad at Walmart, try dealing with unpleasant, betelnut chewing, cussing, red-neck like shop keepers who'd spit on the floor in front of you, then sell you expired foods.
When a chain supermarket finally came to town, it was like the arrival of civilization as we knew it. It was large (by then-standards, about size of a trader joe's), bright, clean, and staffed by well-dressed, well-trained employees who didn't cuss, spit, or closed the shop whenever they felt like it. Best of all, the cookies and snacks weren't expired.
IMO the kind of "small businesses" that people are referring to here are mostly just franchises of a larger chain, like zerglings of a larger hive, passively lead by the corporate overmind.
I credit chain stores in forcing independent shops to raise their quality and sanitary conditions. If you ever had to worry about getting Hepatitus from your meal, you'd understand.
