"There’s a wonderful book called The Great Good Place by Ray Oldenburg. In it he writes about how we have two places that are crucial to us, home being the first and work being the second. But equally crucial, because it allows us to function better in the first two, is what he calls the third place. These “third places” are bars, cafés, and restaurants. They bring people from all walks of life together and allow for casual interaction with others with whom we don’t work and to whom we are not related. As we know, particularly after a global pandemic, this interaction is vital for the individual and society as a whole in order for both to function well and flourish. I would argue that independent shops, perhaps especially food shops, also fulfill this objective, for the reasons I’ve mentioned above, and the loss of them to a tsunami of chain stores is a tragedy for us all"
Stanley Tucci, Taste: My Life Through Food.