Opinion of ghetto grocery stores

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

The few I've been in have been amazingly expensive.  Poor urban people should have access to Wal Marts just like poor rural people.

More Wal Marts in urban areas is also going to result in increasing the number of urban poors. The reason they are often more expensive is simply wholesaling costs, they don't buy in as much bulk. Urban poors can still shop at mainstream chain supermarkets other than Wal-Mart (here that being Rainbow Foods and Cub Foods) which will be cheaper, but there are plenty of convenience benefits to the small stores, and other factors that I love as mentioned above.

There's a relatively large but non-chain supermarket near me that I had in mind with my above description. Once when I was there the lady in front of me kept having her EBT card (basically what Minnesota uses for food stamps) rejected because the card was expired and she needed to replace it. Despite the clerk constantly explaining this to her, she simply kept removing some items and trying again (much to my annoyance of course). After she finally left I asked the clerk how often people use EBT, and she said that while that's the first time she's ever seen someone with an expired card, about half their customers use EBT to make purchases. And then I realized that as I paid for $50 of groceries with a debit card with no real concerns about how much remained in my account, that in my neighborhood I am a rich.

[dead0man]

I knew I shouldn't have used Wal Mart as an example.  I don't even care if it's a chain, but poor people should have cheap options available to them.  I've heard numerous stories of politicans and other people of influence fighting these cheaper options.  That's wrong and hurts poor people.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

There are no Wal-Marts in Minneapolis. There are two Rainbow Foods (one near a rather poor area) and three Cub Foods (one right next the Rainbow mentioned above, the other in North Minneapolis of all places.) There's also two Aldis (both near poor areas). Where's the lack of access?

[dead0man]

Apparently none where you're at, but I don't think all urban areas have the same level of access to cheap food options as the urban poor in your neck of the woods.  At least that's not what I've heard in the past.  Maybe it's been fixed and the urban poor have access to cheap food options, in which case, great news for them!  Now if we can get the men to stop abandoning their children.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

The few I've been in have been amazingly expensive.  Poor urban people should have access to Wal Marts just like poor rural people.

Depends on the type of market really. Some Chinese markets make Walmart look expensive.

[memphis]

I think it's pretty clear that Minneapolis doesn't have any "real" ghettos. Deadman's right that a bag of Doritos costs more at the gas station than at WalMart. And unlike Wal-Mart the gas station doesn't have any actual food. But I also think he underestimates the difficulty of getting to Wal-Mart in rural areas. There may just be one in a whole rural county. And unlike in the city, there's not even a bus that goes out that way. Rural food deserts are in some ways even worse than urban ones. The solution would be to disqualify Doritos and soda from the food stamp program so that stores have an incentive to stock actual food, but that will never happen.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I think it's pretty clear that Minneapolis doesn't have any "real" ghettos.

What the hell is north Minneapolis then? Or a neighborhood that has a supermarket where half the customers use EBT?

[angus]

The word you are looking for is "bodega".  

Not at all.  Bodegas can be very nice.  Upscale, even.

We may not all be on the same page here.  Kroger, for example, is a low-end grocery.  We don't have them here, but I'm familiar with them.  It is not, however, what came to mind when I thought about ghetto grocers.  Neither are the Asian markets what I think about when I think about ghetto grocers, although they are often found in seedy parts of town.  I've a very clear picture in my mind of a ghetto grocery, but it may not be what others are thinking about.  For the Lancastrians here, I'm thinking about Save-a-Lot on South Queen street, between Farnum and Conestoga.  That is the theoretical ideal prototype of a ghetto grocery store.  

[dead0man]

I think it's pretty clear that Minneapolis doesn't have any "real" ghettos. Deadman's right that a bag of Doritos costs more at the gas station than at WalMart. And unlike Wal-Mart the gas station doesn't have any actual food. But I also think he underestimates the difficulty of getting to Wal-Mart in rural areas. There may just be one in a whole rural county. And unlike in the city, there's not even a bus that goes out that way. Rural food deserts are in some ways even worse than urban ones. The solution would be to disqualify Doritos and soda from the food stamp program so that stores have an incentive to stock actual food, but that will never happen.

You're mostly right, but I'd assume the rural poor are substantially more likely to own a very sh**tty, fairly old car or truck, or at worst, knows somebody that does.  If you (not you, the poor guy in the country) have an IQ above, say 70, you should understand your situation enough to know to stock up once a week (or couple of weeks or month or whatever works for them).  Sure, the urban poor might have access to public transit, but getting a week's worth of groceries for a family of four home on the bus has got to suck ass.

I don't honestly know if it's a big problem or not though.  There are crappy grocery stores in the "hood" in Omaha, but grocery stores none the less, with the same prices on a bag of chips as I get across town (or at least in the same ball park as far as prices go, it's not like I've done a price comparison).  I just remembered reading about the issue a decade or so ago and remembering there being a lot of issues with Wal Marts moving into urban environments.  Closing mom and pops, killing jobs, the negative side effects that often come with advances in civilization.  Granted, Wal Mart generally sucks ass, but if they can sell poor people fresh veggies and meat for a good price, I can't see how that's a bad thing, even if the poor people tend to be idiots about it by ignoring the fruit and buying the candy.

[Torie]

Too expensive. It is one of the problems with living in the "wrong" zip codes.  And folks fight Walmart moving in, which would offer folks with little money cheaper goods. Go figure. That's just wrong.

[memphis]

I think it's pretty clear that Minneapolis doesn't have any "real" ghettos.

What the hell is north Minneapolis then? Or a neighborhood that has a supermarket where half the customers use EBT?

Half the customers use EBT? That's a grocery in a working class neighborhood, not a ghetto. BTW, did I tell you about the intense blizzard we had? Two inches of snow and 25 degrees! Blizzards are so much fun to play in!!!

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I think it's pretty clear that Minneapolis doesn't have any "real" ghettos.

What the hell is north Minneapolis then? Or a neighborhood that has a supermarket where half the customers use EBT?

Half the customers use EBT? That's a grocery in a working class neighborhood, not a ghetto. BTW, did I tell you about the intense blizzard we had? Two inches of snow and 25 degrees! Blizzards are so much fun to play in!!!

"Working class" usually means everyone has steady employment. That alone is enough to disqualify from EBT eligibility, unless "stead employment" means McDonalds and/or you have about five kids. I doubt your average supermarket in a working class suburb has half the customers using EBT.

As for that "blizzard", lol. Reminds me of Bushie renting a motel room.

[memphis]

I think it's pretty clear that Minneapolis doesn't have any "real" ghettos.

What the hell is north Minneapolis then? Or a neighborhood that has a supermarket where half the customers use EBT?

Half the customers use EBT? That's a grocery in a working class neighborhood, not a ghetto. BTW, did I tell you about the intense blizzard we had? Two inches of snow and 25 degrees! Blizzards are so much fun to play in!!!

"Working class" usually means everyone has steady employment. That alone is enough to disqualify from EBT eligibility, unless "stead employment" means McDonalds and/or you have about five kids. I doubt your average supermarket in a working class suburb has half the customers using EBT.

As for that "blizzard", lol. Reminds me of Bushie renting a motel room.

Yeah, that's my point. Some of these things are relative. If you think conditions in ghettos are endearing or sentimental, you haven't seen ghetto. There's nothing cute about crack addicted HIV+ prostitutes, abandonded apartment complexes that aren't always completely abandoned and vicious street gangs that, ironically, are the only source of protection from assaults on your person.
And you'd be surprised how not steady employment frequently is amongst working class people. Crappy jobs are a dime a dozen. People get pissed and quit or are fired for stealing or whatever all the time.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

There's nothing cute about crack addicted HIV+ prostitutes

You seriously think the Twin Cities don't have those?

abandoned apartment complexes that aren't always completely abandoned

There is one of those literally two blocks from me.

and vicious street gangs that, ironically, are the only source of protection from assaults on your person.

Those not quite so much based on the description. Thought it's not like Phillips or North Minneapolis is exactly lacking in gangs.

BTW you should really explain this to our terrified suburbanites. I've talked to quite a few people with an attitude of "OMG how could you ever live in such a place!" and seem to think that south Minneapolis is somehow the equivalent of Sarejevo in the early 90s or Mogadishu (which by that standard would make north Minneapolis the equivalent of Fallujah 2004 or Kabul 2001.)

And you'd be surprised how not steady employment frequently is amongst working class people. Crappy jobs are a dime a dozen. People get pissed and quit or are fired for stealing or whatever all the time.

No I'm not. I deal with people like that all the time at my job. However any such area where this is the rule is not going to have a median income over $25k, although admittedly upon further research my neighborhood does, and it's actually not much less than $30k, meaning I don't make that much more than the median here. Of course those numbers are also with a >25% poverty rate.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

Obviously anywhere you can pay for just the food rather than some conglomerate's advertising budget is massively freedom-esque. 

FS

[angus]

Obviously anywhere you can pay for just the food rather than

polychlorinated biphenyl compounds, dioxin, hydrogenated oils, mercury, and bisphenol-A would be great. 

To be fair, some of the nice stores have a bit of those nasty toxins as well.  The best-looking franks always have a bit of sodium nitrate for color.  Ever seen an organic hot dog?  Man, they're ugly.  They're not very tasty either.

Still, the ghetto stores (and, to be fair, Asian Markets) have more than their share of nasties.

[opebo]

I knew I shouldn't have used Wal Mart as an example.  I don't even care if it's a chain, but poor people should have cheap options available to them.  I've heard numerous stories of politicans and other people of influence fighting these cheaper options.  That's wrong and hurts poor people.

Ah yes!  As always the powers that be are ranged viciously against the dear sweet ole corporations, particularly that most doting of them all:  WalMart.  What will the poor do if the capitalists can't save them from their negro leaders?