Get real! The average family that shops at the big-box stores and supermarkets saves literally THOUSANDS of dollars every year. Altruism ends at the checkbook. No one is going to pay more for an item so that you can enjoy life. They want to enjoy THEIR life. If Sam Walton's kids can sell a widget cheaper than you, guess where 99% of folks are going to buy that widget? Wecome to real life. Times change and what WAS is no more. You "small local merchant" fans are nothing more than economic Luddites, raging against a tide that rose years ago... ...and that leads directly to the question of the hour. Unless you have a specialized marketing niche that no one else is filling, you are NOT going to compete against the Mayfaires, the Landfall Centers, the Independence Malls....and most of all, the Internet. So please tell us: Exactly WHAT can you find only in downtown that you can't find elsewhere for less money?