R.I.P Another Skateboard Shop

Sorry for the lack of updates, just got my computer back from the hospital where it's been on life support for the last few weeks. Back on it as of now, starting with this...
Always wanted to do an editorial bit on here, despite the fact the cool guys will probably laugh at me in the playground. This seems like a fitting subject.
The age old SOS vs chainstore/online shopping wankfest argument gets brought back to light again whenever a local shop sadly passes away. Older heads get high and mighty while kids look gormlessly at them wondering what the big deal is. Guess explaining it would be a good place to start. I always use the Tesco analogy.
Suppose your Dad owns a local high street butchers; top quality meat from the local farmers, helps shoppers out with deals, orders in anything people ask for specially. Then Tesco sets up shop next door with their big freezer full of processed cow brains and suddenly people go there instead because 'Ooh, it's cheaper, and I can buy my car insurance at the same time'. Not long before boom, Dad's out of a job, along with all the local farmers.
And this is how it works in skateboarding. Try going in Route One and asking if you can tick a deck till next week; to knock a fiver off for some shoes; to give you someones number to show you round the local spots; to give you some old parts to make a setup for you little brother. The list goes on. There's more to a shop than how many Nikes and Antwaun Dixon boards they stock.
Local skateboard culture doesn't get progressed by people being completely passive with it, taking what they want to be the coolest without giving anything back. They're the reason the shops close down, shit parks still get built, members of the public give you so much shit when you skate street. They're the reason the local scene has dwindled so much, the heated sessions have stopped, the familiar faces are getting fewer and fewer and the goon is full of glory hunting posers that use their board as a fashion accessory, if they even have one.
Don't get me wrong, it goes the other way too. There's only so many times you can trek into town to your local shop only to find it closed in the middle of the day (Sorry Stevie but I heard this a depressing amount of times). But a skate shop isn't there to slave to you, it can't support you if you don't support it. And if you do, it will pay you back. I don't see Route One doing much for the scene. They don't need to, they'll get by with their scooter sales and overpriced jeans. And now what. No more Drawing Boards, Witchcraft, no support for the local scene vids, no community. But oh well, the Fracture video was pretty good, they've got a sick team. Oh wait...
So if you want to stop shit like this happening take a minute to think about what skateboarding has given you, stop asking 'When are the lights coming?','Where can I download X new video for free?','When's the Level getting rebuilt?' and think about giving back. 'The new park down the road is crap'. Well were you at the meetings? 'The goon is so boring these days'. Well fuck off somewhere else then. And think about what your money and your actions are doing for the community you are a part of.
Thanks for reading.

Disclaimer: This is not a holier-than-thou rant and I do not see myself as some great example of how to act, far from it. I had a load of thoughts that I thought were worth sharing, and wanted to make people think a bit further into what they do. Also this is not a direct attack on the workers in Route One Brighton, but I'm sure you guys know how it goes down at head office in your company.