From NPR’s Marketplace Morning Report: British pubs: popular but disappearing
This story caught our ear the other day. The classic English pub is losing out to other businesses vying for their valuable commercial space, grocery stores in particular. Even profitable pubs are disappearing. The problem is made worse by the tied-house distribution model in England combined with the few large chains that own the vast majority of the pubs. Massive debt service and management apathetic to the individual pub makes it an easy proposition to shutter a couple and bank the sale. It’s a poor strategy for the long tradition for the future English pubs. Long-term, the solution is a return to a truly local pub, locally owned and stocked with locally made beer.