That calls for more centralized distribution, where the cost benefits can spill over to the store-bound inventory that's sharing the facility.

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Giant, centralized distribution facilities that use nuclear or fossil fuels, then sending electricity over massive distances losing upwards of 70-80% of the power in transmission, is the historical utility industry approach.

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According to Matt Johnson, the 23-year-old cofounder of Big Words, economies of scale and centralized distribution mean his company sells books for less and still realizes higher margins than brick-and-mortar bookstores.

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The "bricks and clicks" model, as Lehigh University's Snyder describes it, calls for moving some goods to large centralized distribution centers, which have the economies of scale to lower the carrying costs of inventory.

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And, of course, movies like The Future of Food and Food, Inc. really affected our world view, not to mention the regular diet of food-born illness reports, most of which are directly related to centralized, co-mingled food distribution systems.

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Elizabeth Arden took a fragmented fragrance industry and centralized it to gain economies of scale in distribution.

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