When I moved to Amherst there was a small local food market in this location named Louie’s.  I would walk into town, do my food shopping for the day, and walk home in the morning before work.  A market in this location also made it possible for the members of the Bang’s Community center to shop independently without a PVTA van to transport them to the market.  The loss of this local business was as simple as someone at CVS corporate writing a check.  The result was the closing of two local pharmacies, the continuing annual drain from corporate profits being removed from local economy each year, and the loss of an important piece of town character.  I feel it should be a priority that we support local businesses to prevent this from happening if at all possible.  Limiting McDonald’s from having a drive-up in Amherst made having that restaurant here cost ineffective.  I wonder what could have been done in this case.