It is a shame there isn't more creative discussion around ideas for regulation. Perhaps something as simple as "corporate tax rate should scale with revenue" might have prevented the walmarts of the world from eating the mom-and-pops.
Be careful what you wish for.
Perhaps as a shopper there is a certain charm to the "mom and pops". Uneven, some good, some bad. Definitely more character
But as a worker, or as a poor consumer, Walmat is better.
The pay is regular. If mom and pop had a bad week, so might you
The hours are regular. Mom and pop work so hard, and their employees are "just like family"
The goods are a reliable price and quality. Walmat gets criticised for selling bad products, but they are reliably bad products, and cheap. You know what you are getting.
I am no cheer leader for capitalism, nor big box retail, but do not get foolishly romantic about the small scale capitalism they have pushed aside.
The problem is not the just the participants, the problem is the system itself.
You'd need some good old fashioned real world statesmen to make something like that happen.