In its third reincarnation in the town of Huntly, The Co-op Food shop yet again closed its doors this past weekend. As the closest of the three major grocery stores to the town centre, The Somerfield’s Co-op appeared to have been squeezed out, neither being central and convienent enough as the small marts and Costcutters nor being large enough to carry the diversity of supermarkets such as ASDA and Tesco, both of whom arrived shortly one after the other in the last few years. 

As the days counted down to the final few, the aisles got thinner and fewer in between with prices being reduced down to clearance marks and selections getting grim. They still carried the local and national papers though, and fresh milk up until the end, and for that, I salute you, Somerfield. 

On a completely related note, the impending closure of TV Services on the Square is also a dark cloud, and the For Lease sign over The Royal Oak on Duke St is equally foreboding. The empty shops in Huntly, and in most small towns across Scotland and beyond are a definitive changing of the tides, and a persistent one from all accounts at a recent Huntly Business Association meeting. Local businesses are always first and foremost for the locals, but the very identity of being local is one that is constantly shifting. The idea of a local, as geography, as identity, may also very well be a thing of the past, at least in the parameters of a local market place that can sustain its own supply and demand. Markets and the flow of exchange are seemingly always multi-centered, and if you can figure out that part, then you can perhaps be based anywhere, because you will be able to reach everywhere.