I wasn't talking about rural cities. I think those are generally pretty good and pretty well run. I was talking about how it works in the tourist dumps. Protecting your "authentic" <place> branded Chinese trinket importers from the big boxes is SOP in a tourist economy.
I think you misunderstood me. Your comment was in response to:
> I was actually very surprised how sparse the retail was. Felt very much like rural America.
You then went on to argue that retail is not more developed because existing retailers are conspiring to keep the bigger retailers out.
I am arguing that there need not be a conspiracy. The real reason is more likely that it is not economical for a lot of big box retailers to serve such a small population.
I was also responding to the great grandparent's comment. They should not be surprised at a rural America level of retail on the big island of Hawaii, as it is pretty much rural America, what with low population density and isolated location.
