Because the crisis was so long, consumer behavior shifted. [Consumers] turned to Amazon to deliver everything to their front door. As a result, we drained an enormous amount of capital out of our local economies and shifted it to Jeff Bezos and Seattle. For small businesses to recover, that shift has to come back in some part to small local businesses.

Eric Groves, chief executive of Alignable, an online network for small business owners, commenting to Forbes.com for the recent report, “Independent Retailers Must Keep Up ‘Shop Small’ Message As Their Best Hope For Post-Covid Recovery.”