Well in the city I live their used to be two independant local game stores. Both rented and sold games. However a couple years ago one of them said they were moving to a new location because their lease ran out. I talked to the owner the last day the store was open and he re-assured me that the store would re-open in a new location soon. Well he lied and the store never re-oppened. At that time we had two local game stores and two EBGames plus FutureShop , RogersVideo and BlockBuster. I can see how the one local shop got ran into the ground.
Today the other local shop is doing great. Infact its part of a small chain of like 5 outlets here in BC. Their prices are low and the staff are great. They don't give the best trade in deals but they sell used software at like half the cost of EB. But selection wise they never have a game day one. Also if the game isn't selling well globally they stop carrying it after like two weeks. Example Duke Nukem sales plummeted so they only got two small shipments in, they have it for rent but no longer sell it. They don't sell PS3's due to lack of sales , they only have one 360 at the store and Wii and DS, heck they only have one 3DS in at a time now too.
So while local has its advantages (Price, used games and great staff) they do not carry enough games , if I want a new game day one I have to go to a big box chain and that sucks.
However I don't see the small independant store going anywhere. They have evolved they used to only rent games, then they started selling, and now most recently they installed huge HDTV's in the basement and system linked systems. For 100$ an hour you can have a birthday party in the basement, playing any game they have on the shelf and system link up to four consoles. Its a blast and apparently alot of people are having parties and its fairly profitable.
So I know the small guy will find a way.
-JC7
"In God We Trust - In Games We Play " - Joel Reimer
