8 Hours in, and hit our first snag

As a rule on a weekend morning (and sometimes on a weekday morning, and sometimes just cos the day ends in Y) we treat ourselves to some coffee & croissants from the French Patisserie at our local shops (which are fortunately enough a little haven of lovely independents). HOWEVER! The French Patisserie, whilst being independently owned (as far as we can see) has 2 or 3 shops dotted around. Does this make it a chain? I think more than one shop means chain personally, but Stu reckons we can't think that way - otherwise we're ruling out too much stuff, and also how then do you support the local entrepreneur who wants to expand? Good point, but where do you draw the line....?