City Walks – Groceries

12/11/24 blue dogcollar 27
Italian grocery

Getting Something to Eat

Like pretty much any US city, there are some big food deserts where I live. Far too many people need to spend a lot of time, or money, or both to find a grocery store with a full selection of basics.

And one of the unfortunate issues is how quickly people across the political spectrum jump to blaming the people on the receiving end. Much like people who have the expertise and time to sift through huge amounts of news will then look at everyday people and immediately blame them for being stupid for struggling to understand global warming or the Middle East.

But if you’re trying to feed your family while cobbling together an income from two part time jobs and you have to haul groceries on a bus from a store 25 minutes away, it’s awfully hard to manage. Sometimes a 10 pound bag of potatoes is just too much to carry. And yet you’ll endlessly hear people at the upper income levels, or those who spend hours watching cooking shows, scoffing that it can’t be that hard to put together nutritious, inexpensive meals for a family day after day.

An Old Italian Grocery

There’s a tiny, well known Italian grocery I visit from time to time. They were founded by Italian immigrants over a century ago back when Italians were considered scum by genteel Americans worried about Protestants being overwhelmed by sketchy Catholics.

They originally were a pasta maker, but as a sign of their age, they were called a macaroni factory, which is still referenced on the sign over the door.

Macaroni sign

At first glance, the surrounding blocks seem rough. Down the street there’s this abandoned building with lots of broken windows.

empty building

This old fire station has been turned into some kind of cheap wholesale distributor.

old fire station

But when you start to think about the buildings on the block, you get a sense of just how strong the neighborhood must be. Based on the style, this building across the street probably dates to the Civil War era or earlier, and it’s lasted all this time.

historic building

The grocery itself is on the right side of this section of buildings, which probably predate the era in the late 1800s when entire blocks were built in one consistent style.

three historic buildings

But it’s not just old buildings on the block. Next door a big new apartment building was launched a few years ago, as someone put together a big package of development money,

apartments

And another new development project finished recently across the street.

development

The grocery’s storefront is easy to miss. It hasn’t been changed in decades, and it can be hard to know whether it’s open for business.

grocery store front

But once you step inside, it’s fantastic.

Italian grocery

The square footage is probably less than a single aisle of a typical supermarket, and every inch counts. There are freezers filled with frozen pasta and sauce, a sandwich counter, wine bottles stacked to the ceiling, bread baked on the premises, a deli counter full of cheese, olives, and cold cuts, plus shelves of pasta, canned goods, olive oil, polenta, cookies and more.

During the lunch rush you need to inhale deeply to squeeze past people in the aisles, and during holidays it’s even more packed. It seems like everyone loves the place, both people who live and work nearby and people who drive in from the suburbs.

On the other hand, the only fresh meat is homemade sausage, there is no fresh produce except garlic, and they don’t sell basics like milk and eggs, baking powder, tea, fresh seafood or juice. And you won’t get the non-food staples supermarkets carry like trash bags, Ibuprofen, or shampoo.

Another Grocery

Similar in some ways, totally different in others, there’s a Pakistani grocery I walk to from time to time.

It’s much younger, maybe a couple of decades old, but like the Italian grocery it was founded by a deeply mistrusted minority, in this case South Asian Muslims. It’s also an incredibly cramped store packed with all kinds of food. Rice, naan, pickles, sauces, ghee, dried legumes, packaged goods and all kinds of spices.

Pakistani grocery

They have a tiny Halal butchery in the back, but they cater to a wide range of Indians as well, and also draw in a lot of white and African American customers.

Unlike the Italian grocery, the Muslim owners don’t sell alcohol, which opens up some space for other things. They’re a little more likely to have staples than the Italian grocery – you can buy eggs and milk, and they also sell a few pots and pans.

pots and pans

But while the goods are wildly different, there’s a strong similarity to both places. Founded by immigrants living on the edges of America, squeezed into a tiny space, limited in what they can offer due to space, but offering a partial solution to a much larger issue in America.

pakistani groceries

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27 Comments

  1. It’s like the little groceries near me.

    The Metro (A&P) just within walking distance of my home closed almost a decade back because Metro is shitty closing underperforming stores.

    I still hate them like I hate Bob Loblaws (the other major nation chain.) Kind of how I feel about major Canadian banks despite the fact I do own stock in three.

  2. My mom finally passed away early this morning. I was actually on my way to the seniors home with some family visiting from Korea that I picked up from the airport when the call came in. She held on longer than I thought, but considering how much of a mess she was when the dementia hit with full force and all the meds she was on (9 different meds!)… this was a small bit of relief.

    Strangely, her timing worked out well for us. Not sure why or how, but mom passing means that I won’t be going into work next week (wasn’t planning on to, but I have a solid reason to not go in by taking bereavement leave as her service won’t be till the next week.)

    I’ll miss my mom, but I’m glad that she went quick (for someone with her deep dementia) as at least her suffering was minimal. I didn’t realize that my late friend’s death prepared me for something like this, but it doesn’t minimize the hurt or sadness I’m feeling right now.

    I’m more worried about my dad and how he’s going to deal with mom’s death.

    This is the first quiet moment I’ve had since she died as I’ve been texting/calling relatives all the day.

  3. hey we have those here…you know..despite our city design meaning pretty much no one is more than a 15 minute walk away from a regular supermarket

    we calls them tokos…tho i think that only applies to the indonesian ones really

    but nope… its toko now..the toko…the turkish toko…the polish toko…the african toko…toko all the things!

    • The problem here is in most places they’re too few and too far between.

      I think it helps a ton when the businesses own their property, because landlords get really fickle and greedy.

      • Like when Red Lobster under that Vulture Capital fund sold all their real estate for quick bucks.

        Or my employer sold all their prime real estate to a Real Estate Trust now we’re just renters on what was previously company property.

        • HQ has a revenue target so they just raise rent, the business gets priced out, and then the spot sits empty forever. That happened to one little market/takeout near us. It was always busy, but somebody wanted even more than it could generate.

      • tbh im not sure how it works here exactly… but the big chain supermarkets seem to pretty much work by zones….there must be at least this many supermarkets per however much mileage in a city

        outside of the cities things are a little more wide spread and owning a car is a must…tho…i guess if you work rurally as well…theres probably nowhere in the country you cant get your daily needs with a bicycle and saddle bags in about an hour and a half round trip

        this is how my little city spreads its supermarkets and essentials

        and thats not counting the tokos and gas stations and whatever else thats just everywhere

  5. My grandma used to send me to this place because they ground the meat for meatballs just the way she liked.  I still visit whenever I’m in Chicago, even if only to get one of the big cans of olive oil and a giant jar of their house brand giardiniera.  Their meats are amazing.  And the Atlas bakery is next door so you can pick up a few loaves and some cannoli while you’re there.

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