Found this photo I took a while ago of a garage fallen into disrepair.

It got me thinking about how garages and shops from years ago have all but disappeared. Not so long ago if you stopped at a petrol station, it was only to buy fuel or get your car serviced. Garages back then were simple – no sign of shops, breakfast rolls, meal deals, matching uniforms or the glaring lights and primary colours of some multi-national’s corporate identity.

Obviously the products available at modern service stations make good business sense – by offering a diversified range of goods the customer is more likely to buy something else on impulse. But its a pity to see that old garage closed and abandoned. Small town businesses throughout Ireland are currently taking a hammering in this recession.

Hopefully people will return to local independent producers, services and shopkeepers to keep local people in employment, local money in the locality and to help stop their local businesses disappearing into the past like the garage above. Once something unique to the community is lost, it’s very hard to find it again.

Tags: Photography, recession

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 6th, 2009 at 7:42 pm and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.