Reminds me of the big recession in the early 2000's. Everyone was trying to sell cheaper and cheaper goods at lower and lower profit margins. That made as much sense as a bear going on a diet prior to hibernation. Lots of sellers went out of business. I did just the opposite and specialized in the best and most expensive gear and supplies one can find;
sales were booming that whole time, and we made record profits too. A lot of that was contractor business; and my philosophy was that if I helped them make significantly more money by getting them hooked on way more efficient equipment, they'd have more money to spend with us too. It worked.
Then after I retired, the bean counters finally got their foot in the door preaching cheap, cheep, cheep like a little bird, and sales and profits plummeted. Now it's slowly back on the uptick with superior products again, especially since all the local "competition" sells junk only, and they're all competing at the bottom of the barrel, not the top.
The same concept can work in rural environments too. In my tiny home town, the little hardware store made a lot of money as really more an office for their water well and pump business. Another hardware store the next town over specialized in sales and repair of chainsaws and brush removal equipment mandatory in the woods. I've seen little hardware operations in Wyoming do quite well selling fine hunting guns. The successful never follow the lemmings.
In SF, there used to be a pretty big venue selling nothing but a giant selection of specialty light bulbs, bulb sockets, etc. They had everything both Euro and US - all of it high quality or scientific worthy. UV printers would go there too; and he even had framed examples of their work on his entryway walls. Now there are online sources for that kind of thing.
