Many Small Local Shops Have Closed Because Customers Travel To Large Shopping Centers – IELTS Writing Task 2

In recent years, many small local shops have closed because customers travel to large shopping centers or malls to do their shipping. Is this a positive or negative development?

Outline

Essay Type

Opinion Essay (Agree /Disagree)

Introduction

Sentences 1, 2, 3 & 4: Introduce the topic.

Sentence 5 – I prefer small local shops.

Body Paragraphs

Paragraph 1- Benefits of local shops and unemployment caused by the malls

Paragraph 2 – Malls create a monopoly in the market, have stale goods, and promote international brands.

Conclusion

Sum up and state the final opinion.

Sample Essay

Shopping has always been an integral part of our daily lives. Earlier, there were shops specialized in selling a specific type of product. For example, book stores sold only books or related supplies, grocery shops stocked different grocery items and apparel outlets dealt with clothes. Nowadays, this trend has been replaced by shopping malls which most people advocate. In this essay, I would put forward my opinion that small local shops are better than large shopping centers and so it is a negative development.

To begin with, small shops provide definitive goods that a customer requires. Thereby, a lot of confusion is avoided when one knows what he/she wants as they visit the shop. The material they keep ranges from the lowest to the highest, giving the person a scope to choose things according to the budget. The fruits and vegetables such shopkeepers sell are always fresh and grown using natural processes. One can even find traditional products made by native people. For example, special snacks or sweets that are used by people during ceratin festivities like naru (a sweet made mostly out of desiccated coconut) during pujas. But the advent of large shopping malls has attracted people due to its glitz and glamour. As a result, these shops are being closed, and people are losing their jobs. The rate of unemployment is increasing, and it leads to a rise in petty crimes like theft and blackmail.

As the small shops are being closed, the malls have a monopoly in the market. This results in an increase in the price of different commodities. The huge space and decorations used in the shops and the centralized air conditioning are appealing to the buyers. But one tends to forget that these factors are included in the amount that they pay, leading to the excessive cost. There is no option of bargaining in the shopping malls, and so even if he/she feels the price is unnecessarily high, the person is forced to buy it. Sometimes, the goods that one buys, especially food items and makeup, are stale. In order to sell them, these marketing chains offer huge discounts. Furthermore, most of the shopping malls tend to promote international brands and do not showcase the national heritage of the country. This preference towards global brands demotivates the local artisans, and in the process, many important crafts are lost.

Nonetheless, shopping malls provide a one-stop solution to all our marketing woes and save time. It also provides security through guards and CCTVs, and parking space. Unfortunately, just to avail of these few facilities, serious concerns like unemployment, extravagant prices, loss of ethnic identity, and use of expired goods are rising.

Thus, in conclusion, I would like to say that although shopping malls present a modern and developed aspect of our society, a huge amount of risks are also involved with it which we have to handle before letting it sink into our way of life.

Vocabulary

• Apparel

Meaning: clothes of a particular type when they are being sold in a shop
Eg: One of my friends has started a chain of apparel stores.

• Outlet

Meaning: a point from which goods are sold or distributed
Eg: These brands have outlets in almost all shopping malls.

• Definitive

Meaning: better than all others; certain and unlikely to change
Eg: There are some definitive pieces of craft that you might like.

• Desiccated 

Meaning: dehydrated or powdered
Eg: My grandmother used to make sweets with desiccated coconut and nuts.

• Glitz and Glamour

Meaning: Something or someone that stands out because of appearance and money
Eg: Most people cherish living a life of glitz and glamour.

• Petty

Meaning: having little or no importance or significance
Eg: “This is not a petty issue, so be careful.”

• Monopoly

Meaning: complete control of something, especially an area of business
Eg: The dictator created a monopoly of power and began to rule the country.

• Showcase

Meaning: displayed or presented to its best advantage
Eg: The exhibition gave them an opportunity to showcase new talents.

• Stale

Meaning: no longer new or fresh, usually as a result of being kept for too long
Eg: “Avoid eating stale food as it can be harmful to your health.”, said my father.

• Woes

Meaning: bad troubles causing much suffering
Eg: She had faced so many woes in life that she became immune to them.

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