Thank you for a very interesting article. The late 1980s and early 90s were an era of massive economic change in the USA which in many ways rivaled the industrial revolution of the early nineteenth century in its importance as an agent of social change. For some reason this revolution is largely off the economc and historical radar. During this time, I ran a small wholesale company. catering to supermarket floral shops. We sold to everybody from the largest players like Kroger and Winn Dixie down to comparatively small single store independents. As a result, I had a front row seat to the carnage that ensued. Single supermarket independents and small chains became all but extinct during the first five years of the 1990s. The same was true for the other small mass-market retailers like pharmacies, clothing stores, electronic dealers, etc. as the largest players took over almost the entire retail marketplace. I am working on an article explaining the mechanics of this change and how it completely altered our economy. However, I should note that since small independent retail businesses ceased to be a route to wealth, Amway at the time you describe was given a huge new pool of frustrated fledling entreprenuers to exploit.