Do you remember the days before COSTCO, Target and Wal-Mart?

At one time shoppers bought ice cream from specialty ice cream stores, their meat from a butcher, and their prescriptions from their neighborhood pharmacist.

Maybe it was not convenient. Maybe it was not cheap. But when you visited your independent neighborhood nursery, you knew the plants you bought there were grown in the same weather and soil conditions you had in your backyard.

When folks first started retiring to Florida, they often ran side businesses. You could drive down a street of tidy 2-bedroom, 1-bath homes and see a can resting on a rickety card table in several front yards. The purpose of the can was to leave a buck for an armful of freshly picked oranges, grapefruits or avocados that were stacked in a box beside the table. The oranges came from the owner's backyard.

Since the 50s mom and pop stores have been driven out of business first by chains, then by chains of giant 1-stop centers. Wal-Mart has been accused of devastating the commerce in small town America.

Of course, shoppers vote with their dollars. Spending their cash at mega-stores provides them the convenience of 1-stop shopping. And they buy goods at discounted prices that are only available to merchants buying in vast quantities.

So how did the internet resurrect the independent business owner? Wal-Mart simply can't get its hands on every manufactured product. The internet is bigger than Wal-Mart. Search engines provide 1-stop convenience right from your computer or cell phone.

The variety of features available in a single product category offered on the web is staggering. This variety puts choice back in the hands of shoppers. And it is also an invitation to the thoughtful internet merchant to plug the holes in the supply chain.

At one time, bookstores were independently owned. Now when people think of bookstores they think of the big franchises. There was a fear that authors' works on low-audience subjects would lose their place on shelves of chain stores. Today, however, you can publish your own study about the disappearance of the American honeybee online. You will be found by readers wanting to learn about your subject.

Search engines have leveled the playing field for small businesses making supplemental income or even wealth possible once again for the little guy.