It is a unique and increasingly rare scene in a large and frenetic city: a woman arrives at mid-morning to a central store to buy a couple of things, but, before entering the aisles, she stops at the entrance to give two kisses to the owner of the establishment. That client is María del Carmen Toro (Madrid, 58 years old), a resident of the Salamanca neighborhood in Madrid for a decade, and that affectionate greeting arises when she arrives at the Villalar Supermarket, María José Rodríguez’s (Seville, 55 years old) store. Toro’s move to the neighborhood coincided with the date on which the business was transferred to the couple formed by Rodríguez and Antonio Lozano (Madrid, 55 years old). He, after two decades at the store, is usually in charge of the more physical tasks and she is in charge of the paperwork and procedures. Both recognize many of those who walk through the door daily. Although it is located in a busy and neuralgic point of the capital (just a few meters from the Puerta de Alcalá), the trademark of the house is its close proximity. And it is reciprocated, as a smiling Rodríguez illustrates from her small business: “When my son was born, 17 years ago, some clients came to see me and bring me a little detail.”
The number of local businesses in the Community of Madrid decreased from 50,853 to 43,769 between 2020 and 2024, according to the National Institute of Statistics
The other side of the coin is offered by a fruit shop located on the same street that, a few months ago, had to close because it could not sustain itself. The neighbors notice it: “It was very good for us, we miss it,” Toro acknowledges. It is not a caveat: the number of local businesses in the Community of Madrid fell by 14% between 2020 and 2024, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE). They have gone from 50,853 to 43,769. Beyond the consequences of the pandemic, new ways of consuming also influence: opting for department stores or online shopping has an impact on traditional stores and the commercial fabric of the neighborhoods. But also in social ones. The closure may mean the loss of the almost familiar relationship between workers, customers and salespeople, who have been visiting the same places for years, chatting with the owners and meeting neighbors in the store.
To survive, small businesses offer home delivery, trust regular customers or let them pay at the end of the month.
But the shopkeepers who resist respond. They offer home delivery and telephone orders, they trust regular customers and let them pay at the end of the month, they select quality products, they adapt to changes in the city and new needs… And in everything they apply their hallmark: “What differentiates us is the service,” explains Lozano. More than once this couple has to buy food that is not typical for their store to sell to customers who ask them for a favor. Those who used to sell them have lowered their blinds.María del Carmen Toro, a regular customer of the Villalar Supermarket, poses in the place where she goes for the treatment, the proximity and the prices.Jaime VillanuevaWhat makes María del Carmen Toro go to the Villalar Supermarket for specific purchases – such as milk, broth or eggs – is not only the ease of being two minutes from her house: «The guys who work here are always willing to help and the prices are good, considering the area we are in,” he points out about a neighborhood that ranked ninth in Spain in terms of average income in 2023. The figure reaches 103,712 euros, as recorded in the latest Statistics of personal income tax filers by postal code from the Tax Agency.
Providers who are family
Small stores also rely on strong and fluid relationships with their suppliers that allow them to sell a good product. One of them is the one they have built with Lola Cuchillo (Madrid, 52 years old). This salesperson from Pascual works with the company’s distributor, Qualianza, and has been in charge of different areas of the capital for eight years. It runs from the area around Plaza de Castilla or the neighborhoods of Montecarmelo and San Chinarro, in the north, to the most central Avenida de América or, to the south, that of the City of Barcelona. 
The facade of the Villalar Supermarket, in the Salamanca neighborhood (Madrid), one of the 43,769 local businesses in the capital. Jaime Villanueva For them to be solid alliances, Cuchillo had to consolidate them with patience. “My work is based on trust,” he says. What’s more: he confesses that, in the beginning, his presence generated some suspicion, since his 300 clients were already accustomed to how his predecessor worked. «I came from a very different sector, telecommunications, but they gave me an opportunity and I took it. Here I have learned everything,» he admits about his routine in Pascual. It managed to acclimatize and become a fundamental step in forging close relationships between shopkeepers and neighbors. “In terms of transportation, orders and so on, we never fail,” he says about his distribution of items such as Pascual milk, Vivesoy vegetable drinks or Bezoya water.
Lola Cuchillo checks an order for Pascual milk cartons at the Villalar Supermarket. Jaime Villanueva Cuchillo insists that she loves her job and adapts, for example, to supplying the areas that have the most demand for milk, seeing what they need, replenishing. “It gives me great joy to get up in the morning and know that my clients are looking forward to me coming that week to catch up.” Visit small businesses, listen to them and respond quickly to their demands. «I really like dealing with people. It is gratifying to be able to help them,» he says.
Survive when the neighborhood changes
Lozano and Rodríguez have seen the transformation of newly married couples who moved 20 years ago and who today have adult children. “They come through the door and we already know why they are coming,” he says. “There is a lady who always wants one brand of white wine; don’t offer her another!” he jokes. These families have been decreasing, he says: apartments with old rents, deaths or the division of larger homes into smaller apartments have disfigured the neighborhood. “Shopping has gone from being for 10 to two people,” says Lozano. Now they adapt to what university students need and collaborate with small businesses in the area: «Seven people work here, we have to cover many expenses because six families live off of this.» The customer profile has also changed at the Monte Pinos Supermarket, in the Pacífico neighborhood, south of the capital. When David Herrera (Madrid, 49 years old) opened it 27 years ago, the buyers were around 40 and had medium-high purchasing power. “Now many young people come because we accept the checks and gourmet cards that some companies give away, but in general the age of my clientele has risen, from 60 and up,” he reveals. 
David Herrera, owner of the Monte Pinos Supermarket, located in the Madrid neighborhood of Pacífico since 1998. Jaime VillanuevaAntonio Costero, at 90 years old, walks with the shopping cart through the corridor that combines a fishmonger, a butcher and a fruit shop. Born in Zaragoza, he moved to Madrid in 1954, the city where he raised his four children. Since then, Costero makes his daily visit to the store to buy bread, but he also does not disdain the more special products. “I have been spending the summer in Noja, Cantabria, and I have not had the need to bring anything for the family because there are sobaos pasiegos here,” he points out. He also recommends “the best asparagus in Navarra” and grandma’s muffins. “Ideal for making a special gift,” he suggests. Herrera supports that a fundamental step to differentiate yourself from other large chains and maintain lifelong customers is to respond to them with a selected product. “We always try it before and we only bring the one we really like,” he says. For both Herrera and the couple who own Villalar, the collaboration of salespeople like Lola Cuchillo ensures the satisfaction of new and old buyers. They have in mind customers as loyal as Costero, who has been shopping at Monte Pinos for more than 20 years: “I remember your mother, we had a lot of conversation,” he tells Herrera. “Oh, my mother!” the owner blurts out. 
At 90, Antonio Costero has not lost the habit of going shopping at the Monte Pinos Supermarket. Jaime Villanueva Distinguishing himself from other stores and maintaining his excellence has allowed the Monte Pinos Supermarket to expand. He was actually born in the Imperial neighborhood of Madrid in 1995, with Herrera, his brother and four other partners from the Aluche market. The response was so welcoming that they launched the second Monte Pinos, Pacifico, in 1998, a large space that even includes a cafeteria where they serve breakfast, lunch and snacks. “It is a well-known business in the neighborhood,” Herrera is proud. He assures that the 35 workers are a balanced team; He himself follows the rhythm: he unloads trucks, goes to the fruit shop, helps at the bar, sweeps or mops. “Every day is completely different,” she reflects and adds that her goal, above all, is to set an example. Lola Cuchillo has discovered that her work is also renewed daily. The previous perspective she had about her work has changed; hers is not just a chain of sales from her to businesses and from businesses to clients: “We have become allies, even friends.” The basic thing is to prepare, together, for any change, pandemic or crisis. Also respond quickly to demands. “If a customer calls you because they need an order, you serve it to them the next day,” he concludes.