A waiting room can reveal a lot about a company, a nation, and a people. The other day I was waiting on an oil change at a friendly neighborhood retail store when I was pleasantly surprised by my own freedoms. I was free to:
- Stay or Go:
- I stayed…
- Shop or Abstain:
- I shopped… After arriving for an oil change I left with sunglasses, sunglass holder, deodorant, notebooks, ankle stabilizers, a new book… and an oil change.
- Take it or Leave it:
- I took it – a free coffee. Thank you very much!
- Watch or Read:
- I watched but read my own (NEW!) book.
- Stay a little longer or pay and leave:
- I paid and took my leave, but thanks anyway.
Yes, advertisements filled empty space on the waiting room’s walls. And commercials filled the sights and sounds of Southern Californians playing cowboys and indians on a local classic television channel. But I filled my stomach with a free coffee and some breakfast snacks while reading a History book written by a Cambridge-educated author. How’s that for optionality?
What other nation offers this combination of products and services at this price? Maybe, Germany? Of the National Retail Federation’s (NRF.com, 2025) top five retail companies of 2024, two are in Germany. The other three are in the USA. Western European nations and the Far East round out the top fifty.
Here’s a sample of the National Retail Federation’s top fifty retailers 2024 list:
| Nation | Number of Top 50 Retailers | Leading Brand |
| USA | 9 | Walmart |
| Germany | 7 | Schwarz Group |
| Netherlands | 4 | Ahold Delhaize |
| France | 8 | Carrefour |
| Japan | 5 | Seven & I |
| Spain | 1 | Inditex |
| China/Hong Kong | 2 | Alibaba |
| Portugal | 1 | Jeronimo Martins |
| United Kingdom | 2 | Tesco |
| Sweden | 1 | H&M |
| Australia | 1 | Woolworths Limited (Aus) |
| Switzerland | 3 | Aspiag |
| Canada | 2 | Couche-Tard |
| United Arab Emirates | 1 | Landmark Group |
| Chile | 1 | Cencosud |
| Thailand | 1 | CP All |
I had just visited the world’s number one retail store. And it felt good. It felt like freedom. Is it?
USA
Germany
Netherlands
France
Japan
Spain
China/Hong Kong
Portugal
United Kingdom
Sweden
Australia
Switzerland
Canada
United Arab Emirates
Chile
Thailand
Looking at the nations with the most retailers on the National Retail Federations 2024 top-fifty list reveals a fascinating fact: most of these leading retail nations are tied to big democratic economies. Is this coincidence, correlation, or cause?
| Nation | GDP Rank | Democracy Status |
| USA | 1 | Deficient Democracy |
| Germany | 3 | Working Democracy |
| Netherlands | 17 | Working Democracy |
| France | 7 | Working Democracy |
| Japan | 4 | Working Democracy |
| Spain | 15 | Working Democracy |
| China/Hong Kong | 2 | Hard Autocracy/Hybrid Regime |
| Portugal | 49 | Working Democracy |
| United Kingdom | 5 | Working Democracy |
| Sweden | 24 | Working Democracy |
| Australia | 13 | Working Democracy |
| Switzerland | 20 | Working Democracy |
| Canada | 10 | Working Democracy |
| United Arab Emirates | 27 | Hard Autocracy |
| Chile | 47 | Working Democracy |
| Thailand | 26 | Moderate Autocracy |
Three-fourths or 75% of the countries leading the retail industry are classified as a “working democracy” by the DFG (German Research Foundation, 2025)*. The highest performers in the retail industry appear to be tied to democratic economic systems. If they are, how strong is that connection? Do they share the same fate?
I don’t know. But I do know that I like paying for affordable products and services while drinking a free coffee in an air-conditioned and uncrowded waiting room. Is that a freedom worth fighting for?
Is Free Coffee a Freedom Worth Fighting For?
*India (Hybrid Regime), Italy (Working Democracy), Brazil (Deficient Democracy), Russia (Moderate Autocracy), Mexico (Hybrid Regime), S. Korea (Working Democracy), Indonesia (Deficient Democracy), Turkiye (Moderate Autocracy), Poland (Deficient Democracy), Saudi Arabia (Hard Autocracy), Argentina (Deficient Democracy), Belgium (Working Democracy), Ireland (Working Democracy), Israel (Working Democracy), Austria (Working Democracy) and Singapore (Hybrid Regime) all had high gross domestic products (GDP’s) in 2023 but only six or three-eighths (37.5%) of them were classified as a “working democracy” (German Research Foundation, 2025; World Bank, 2025).
Sources:
German Research Foundation (2025). Complete Ranking: Total Value Index 2020 (Context Measurement) https://www.democracymatrix.com/ranking
National Retail Federation. (2025). NRF | A look at the 2024 Top 50 Global Retailers. https://nrf.com/blog/look-2024-top-50-global-retailers
World Bank Group. (2025). GDP Current US$. Retrieved June 4, 2025, from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?most_recent_value_desc=false
Deliberating Truth 