Inex Mica Hardware

Ndependent retailers in the UK haven't had a nice time recently. In the hardware/DIY sector numbers have fallen from 25, 000 in 1970 to less than 6, 500 now. This works out as 660 independent UK hardware stores closing every year - or nearly 2 per day, EVERY DAY for the last 28 years. In 1970 no-one had heard of B&Q or Homebase - now they are the market leaders within the DIY sector in the UK. Other market sectors have met a similar fate as the superstores mopped up - grocers, butchers, electrical stores etc. In the grocery sector the massacre only stopped with the arrival of Spar and Nisa etc - independent groups which gave their members a fighting chance.