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A frequent criticism of Carmarthenshire County Council, and not just in this blog, is its infatuation with brand names, chain stores and supermarkets when it comes to retail development. St Catherine's Walk in Carmarthen is full of them, and you could be in any shopping precinct in England if it weren't for the Welsh accents. The same is true of the new East Gate complex in Llanelli, and the council explained recently that there was a preference for big retail names because they offer landlords the prospect of long-term stability and security. Helped along, of course,  by all sorts of special deals and free advertising by the Council, which continuously promotes names such as Nandos, Harvester, Costa Coffee and the rest through its PR machine.

You have to wonder how true this argument is following the collapse of Woolworths, Jessop's, Clinton Cards, HMV and other big names. In this part of the world Trade Secret and Seconds Ahead, chains which both sold discounted clothing, have also gone bust leaving gaping holes in the High Street.

And it's not just the ones which are going to the wall. Recently H Samuel and Dorothy Perkins announced that they were pulling out of Llanelli after many years of trading in the town. It seems that endless contractor work and disruption in the town have played their part in the decisions.

Of course small businesses shut up shop too, but they tend not to leave massive gaping holes in the High Street when they go, and when you look around our towns, it is often precisely the small, local retailers who seem to be hanging on in there when the multiples give up.

As often as not, they survive despite rather than because of the Council and its visionary regeneration schemes.

But it's not all doom and gloom as far as the big names are concerned. Some are still expanding, as we can see here:

EJ Hales ‏@ej_hales