I noticed in the press last week that Hobbycraft are opening a new shop in Union Square, the new retail shopping centre which is being constructed beside the railway station. According to their website, it will open in Winter 2009.

I have mixed feelings about this. While it will undoubtedly bring cheap(er) materials to our doorstep will it have the odd things that you can get from my favourite shop – The Artist’s Pad.

Just as we can get cheap blockbusters from Waterstones, but have no small independent book retailers in Aberdeen, stocking items that you won’t get in the chain of book superstores, would we really like to see a shop shop as the Artist’s Pad lose out just to get 10p off our tubes of paint?

Generally, I dislike large chains, be they book shops, supermarkets or art shops, and their power to dominate the market and even control supply chains through their enormous buying power.

What do you think?