The return of the neighbourhood repair shop
Rising replacement costs and a stubborn attachment to old things are keeping repair benches busy.
The economics finally turned. When a repair costs a fifth of a replacement, the calculation makes itself.
What is coming in
Appliances and phones dominate the bench, followed by furniture. Shops report waiting lists rather than slow weeks.
The binding constraint is people. There are more repairs available than there are trained hands to do them.
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