When I moved here 20 years ago, there were two mom and pop feed and seed stores and one Tractor Supply. I stuck to the mom and pop stores. Then one closed down about ten years ago. Then the other one burned to the ground and never reopened, so I switched to Tractor Supply for my chicken supplies. Now what am I supposed to do? Order everything mail order?
And that's how a relative handful of people control the whole economy over time. They outprice and outlast the competition, then you have no real choice but to buy from them.
