Is My Bodega better than your bodega? (New York, Bedford: sales, credit card)
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Bodegas are a good place to get a nice bacon and egg sandwich on a roll in the morning. Some of them have hot food too. Cold beers at a reasonable price.
Too bad so many of them are so dirty. The Korean delis in the city are a lot more yuppified. But much more expensive too.
When I lived on the Lower East Side, there was a bodega right across the street that I could see from my living room window. They used to keep the colored lights flashing all night long and after midnight they had the bullet proof 24 hour window. Then I guess residents complained, so they just shut down after midnight.
Was a time many years ago when you could go into the local LES bodegas, buy a pack of cigs and a nickel bag. Probably some of those still in the Bronx. There is a notorious fried chicken place up around Bedford Park on the Concourse that they keep shutting down and reopening that is notorious for being a drug front...but that's not quite a bodega--but close. I'm sure there's a lot more where that came from.
The Bodega lobby is powerful enough to keep Wal-Mart outta town! In fact, it fought for years to keep out the Pathmark on 125th Street!
Christ, I remember that idiocy. I grew up hearing how big grocery chains eschewed poor minority areas and how selfish this was. Then one tries to go into one and opposition arises. A grocery store would offer more variety and cheaper prices, certainly something poor folks might appreciate. And a bunch of bodega owners coerce politicians to depict it as some kind of civil rights issue.
In my area, they have two great Associated/Morton Williams along with the ubiquitious bodegas. The supermarkets are a true blessing. The one on Fordham and Jerome is even better than the one on Kingsbridge--they have a salad bar as well as a little "cafe" area with wifi. And you can find some things there that you wouldn't expect in the Bronx, and prices are cheaper too. And nice sized, well stocked. Wonderful!
I live right around the corner from that Associated Elvira. The hot food is pretty good there. I like the supermarket alot, except for the kids that work there. Most are pretty rude, not all, most.
Small world, maniabeatle! Yeah, my b/f and I are manic about the weekly sales sheets, and so you have to watch or they will overcharge you anyway. Some of the managers are real jerks too. The checkout folks are usually great, but the stock people can sometimes be not so great, and not all speak much English.
Bxgear, what are dutches? is that like that old reggae song, "Pass the dutchie on the lefthand side?" At least you can get cheap drinks and chips, though.
Christ, I remember that idiocy. I grew up hearing how big grocery chains eschewed poor minority areas and how selfish this was. Then one tries to go into one and opposition arises. A grocery store would offer more variety and cheaper prices, certainly something poor folks might appreciate. And a bunch of bodega owners coerce politicians to depict it as some kind of civil rights issue.
Actually, the bodegas plus the Koreans plus the unions have been successful in keeping Wal-Mart outta New York. Plus, Wal-Mart would have to deal with New York wages, which are higher than the national average. They won't be coming in the 5 boroughs anytime soon!
A bit of history. When the classic supermarkets took flight from poor hoods in the 1970s (like everyone else who had means who did), small businessmen started setting up cornerstores to fill the void left by Shop Rite, Pathmark, Key Food, etc. The corner stores (or bodegas) became the supermarkets of the hood. Over the corse of 20 years, enough bodegas popped up where they realised that a unified bodega front could form a powerful lobby (many bodegas plus the different ethnic groups--Latin, Arab, Korean, etc!).
Now, with the economic comeback of New York, the bodegas knew that the return of the supermarkets and big box stores could produce an economic threat to their establishment. So they got together and fought it!
However, to their credit and due to public pressure, there are some bodegas who stepped up their game businesswise due to the big-box, supermarket competition. Some have renovated their stores (new fridges, taking credit cards, etc), serving better quality and in-date food. A bodega in my old neighborhood just recently revovated their premises and started to serve coffee and Spanish buffet food and fruit. Another in Park Slope gutted its place and now serves quite a few organic stuff (never thought I'd see that in a bodega!).
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