I'm having a dose of guilt with my morning coffee. I'm making up a shopping list and there are several items I want that can't be found at the little local stores. Time to hit the supermercado.
My shopping preferences are changing the character of the town I live in.
In the last six months, two family-owned local stores closed here in our town, where a traffic light has yet to be installed. The direct cause of these failures is the sudden appearance of two chain stores: a Ley Express and a Santa Fe, not to mention a Walmart and a Sam's Club that opened a couple of years ago in nearby Guaymas.
Granted, one of the closed markets was the Fruteria, which was located several blocks from the main traffic center, had despite its name a rather motley selection of fruits and vegetables, and obscenely high prices for the meats at their old fashioned butcher counter. So when the Fruteria closed there was barely a ripple of concern. But then Izzie's (a five-minute walk from my house) shut its doors last week and although they hinted it might be only temporary, we are pretty sure it's history. Izzie's had a reputation for good meats, and it was possible to request hard-to-get items like brown rice and coconut ice cream, but their produce section was tiny, the store was dark and its aisles narrow. The big stores look much more inviting.
We are left with two endangered family-owned stores in town: Santa Rosa Market (Izzy's sister store, which trades heavily on the quality of its meats although the buzz is that they're not what they used to be) and a tiny market miles from the center of town that specializes in bringing in goods you never see in Mexico, such as Costco products, almond butter, sugarless peanut butter, and dark molasses, in response to local requests. Everyone is keeping their fingers crossed that these two markets will survive the summer, even though we're doing most of our shopping at Ley now. Meanwhile the Mexicans here are patronizing Santa Fe. Apparently everybody, gringo and Mexican, prefers the selection and atmosphere of a big box store, but we don't want to see the little guys go under, so a cloud of guilt over our own hypocrisy diminishes our pleasure in shopping.
On the local internet forum are those who hate the big stores, complaining about their enormous signs and their effect on traffic (especially Santa Fe, which is smack in the middle of Dysfunction Junction, a six-point intersection that begs for that still-in-the-future traffic light). Then there are customers who praise the new supermarkets to the skies. You can get everything on your list at Ley, they marvel. During the fall/winter/early spring season our population is more than 50% North American, so it's no surprise the new US-style stores were a hit. But already some are expressing concern that the local economy might not be able to support them through the summer, and they too might fail.
What pushed my guilt button this morning was an article in the New York Times about how Vermont is attempting to keep out the big box stores to preserve their "Vermontiness." Similar gripes were heard around here when our beloved beach town was altered forever by the appearance of the two big stores, but Vermont hasn't caved, except in the case of the dollar stores that have slipped in here and there. I have to concede that I like the small-town character we used to enjoy, just as the Vermonters treasure their village charm...the cupolas, wood siding, faux hayloft doors and peaked roofs. I remember a town in California near where I used to live, Mendocino, where the same kind of atmosphere was rigorously preserved, to the delight of tourists, who could pretend they had stepped back in time. The place oozed charm and historical character. There were only two grocery stores: a market established more than 50 years ago and a natural foods co-op. But if you wanted to fulfill a long grocery list, you went to Safeway in nearby Ft. Bragg. It wasn't just the variety available at the bigger store, but the difference in price: why would you pay a dollar for an apple when you could get it for fifty cents? Especially if you needed a dozen apples!
I'd like to be able to settle for what's available locally, especially if the smaller stores would cater to our preferences. I'd feel better about myself as a conscientious consumer. But I'm not holding my breath. More likely those stores will close too. And then we will be stuck with whatever the big chain stores want to sell us, at whatever price, which is probably what we deserve.
3 comments:
I agree with you to a point on this Bliss; but have a couple of comments to make.
As you say a big part of the people lamenting the loss of the mom and pop type stores are the ones who have flocked to Walmart and Sams Club lol, so they have created their own situation in part.
I also like to support the mom and pop type of places and in Guaymas that is possible as their prices are not so out of line with those in the supers.
This is not and was not so with Izzys and probably Santa Rosa, not sure as haven't shopped there. I had shopped at Izzys when we were staying out there and their prices were insane! For one example a 1 kilo can of coffee there, (this is several years ago) was exactly double the price of what I was paying at the time for the exact same brand/size in Guaymas. Crazy, why? Pure and simple gouging in this case as it was not an imported item. This type of thing I do not support.
It seems to get forgotten on the forum that there are Mexican people living there too, who often cannot afford those types of prices and have I am sure been glad of the fact that Ley and Santa Fe have opened up, even though their prices are slightly higher than in Guaymas or so I have read.
Some of the Mexican people have to use the bus to get their groceries and used to have to take a 12 peso bus ride to Guaymas which is time consuming and then if they wanted to go to the old Soriana another bus for 5 pesos. It may not sound like a lot; but to some it matters and it is also a PITA, then naturally the same cost to return home.
The other day when I came to the library I saw several families get on the bus with bagfuls of groceries and thought of how much easier those 2 new supers have made their lives.
Change is not always a bad thing for the people who are perhaps less financially free to make choices.
Santa Rosa will probably survive with their imported products, deli items, meat, etc., as will the little store in Ranchitos. They can't be expected to totally stock their shelves with these types of products as the expat pop. diminishes substantially in the summer.
Whatever happens I wish them all well.
On another subject, did you see the comment I left you in answer to your questions on my blog?
Have a great day, hope to see you soon.
I believe that one of the issues is that the small mom and pop stores do not have either the management skills or the experience to grow or compete with the times. If places where they do, requires a commitment and investment in order to lure shoppers. The shopping experience must make up for the 10 or 20% higher prices they must charge. Sadly they only seem to raise the prices and expect that you will still shop there. They also need to get out of the mindset that dark, dirty, poorly lit or displayed items or products past their "freshness" will command the price increase. You can't blame the consumer for wanting a better product or environment. Too many mom and pops feel that what has worked for the store for the last 50 years will keep working.
We try and support the local stores, but when they refuse to provide fresh, basic items, we no longer have a choice.
There has been lots of controversy of the Big Box stores, but small operations that provide value added service and customer experience still seem to prosper.
We have the same issue with other small Mexican family owned businesses, like restaurants....but that's another story.....
Hi, Brenda
RE: the discrepancy between San Carlos and Guaymas supermercados, we tend to take it in stride because so many gringos dread driving into Guaymas, only a 20-minute trip. Before Ley and Santa Fe opened here, I did my big-list shopping at Ley in Guaymas once a week, or even better, at the tianguis where I could get a big bag of any kind of produce for less than a buck. Now, that was worth the trip. I only filled in the gaps at the local stores, so you could say I wasn't very supportive even then.
I saw your response to my comment, and commented back. Thanks!
Hi, Tancho - Yes, ownership of these stores is often passed down to the younger generation along with outdated and wrongheaded business practices. And, of course, no capital to fall back on. And employees that have been there for years, are grandfathered in but do as little work as possible and would cost a fortune to fire. Some make it for decades anyway, some don't last more than a season. Survival of the fittest. Hopefully some business owners learn something from the big stores and make improvements of their own.
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