Not sure about that. Using Hemsworth as an example, all the pubs were rubbish run down dumps before Spoons made an appearance. None of the rubbish pubs shut down, but more actually thought, oh crap. So they all refurbished, became nice pubs, and now work to form a decent pub hot-spot for a town its size. Wetherspoon, like Tesco, actually helped to save Hemsworth Town Centre. On a wider point, if it wasn't for the likes of Tesco and Spoons, there would be no reason to go to Hemsworth. (Tesco didn't kill Hemsworth, the by-pass did. Its big companies like Spoons and Tesco that brought people back into the Centre).