Investigative team sniffs out ‘Hood Stores’ By: Booker T Hodges Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder Originally posted 10/17/2003
First of a two-part column
Have you ever wondered what goes on in what I will call ''Hood Stores''? You know, the corner stores located in areas where there is a high concentration of poverty and all the things normally associated with poverty? These corner stores are located all over the metro area.
The Booker T Investigative Team spent two months this summer monitoring what goes on in these stores. Let me say that it isn’t pretty. These stores prey on poor people, and until now no one has spoken up about it. I will discuss the atmospheres, products, and customer services that my investigative team witnessed at these Hood Stores.
The atmosphere of these stores is deplorable, to say the least. ''When I walked inside the store, I noticed a stench that reeked of dead animals. There were flies flying around and ants crawling on the floor,'' says Investigative Team Member Ted after visiting a Hood Store in St. Paul.
When Ted asked the person behind the counter what the smell was coming from and why there were so many bugs flying around the store, the person responded by saying, ''Don’t worry about it. You buy something or leave before I call the police.''
Ted proceeded to purchase a pack of Black Label bacon for $6.57. When Ted had taken the bacon home, he noticed that it had an expiration date that was two weeks old. When he took the bacon back to the store, he was told that he couldn’t return it.
''The store had coolers that were only 55 degrees when they should have been 40 degrees, and I assume that is what is causing the store to smell as bad as it did — because the meat was spoiling. The store had poor lighting, small aisles, and just looked grimy. This store was similar to most of the Hood Stores I visited during this investigation,'' says Ted.
The products these store offer in many ways contribute to the crime in the neighborhood. ''I found the product line of the Hood Stores in Minneapolis to be in line with stores in Third World countries,'' says Mike, another member of the investigative team. ''I have traveled to Mexico, Jamaica, and Bosnia, and stores in those countries have product lines that are similar to our Hood Stores.''
Hood Stores sell products that you won’t find in normal or mainstream stores. For example, every Hood Store we visited was guaranteed to have Zig Zags, blunts, cannabis magazines, African American hair products, pre-paid phone cards, cannabis pipes, small baggies (bags used to package a single rock of cocaine), and high-priced baby food. But often these stores lacked fresh vegetables/fruit, fresh fish, and fresh meat.
In several of the Hood Stores we were able to purchase single Zig Zag papers for $.05, single cigarettes for $.25, and single blunt cigars for $.50. It is illegal to sell these items individually, but who is going to report it?
The price of the products in these stores exceeded mainstream stores by an average of 300 percent. In several of the stores we visited, some of the products had two different price tags on them. ''One of the Hood Stores in Minneapolis was selling baby clothes with Target price tags on them,'' says Mike. ''When I asked why does this item have Target price tags on it, I was told that they were purchased at wholesale from Target. When we checked with Target, we were informed that Target doesn’t sell its merchandise wholesale to anyone because Target has a very few select products that they themselves make. We were also informed by Target that they don’t produce any baby clothing themselves and purchase all their baby clothing from merchandisers. So how did this store obtain these baby products?
We found customer service at these Hood Stores to be unsatisfactory at best. The African American men members of our team were treated with the most disrespect, whereas the African American females were treated with the most respect. Often the Black male members of the team were followed around the store and watched by store personnel. One shop even went as far as dialing 911 and having the operator hold on the phone until one of the Black male members left the store.
Half of the people working at these stores had no idea how much something cost. In several of the stores we visited, the store clerk made up a price on the spot.
In part two of this column, I will talk about the illegal activity that we witnessed taking place in these Hood Stores and profile the owners of these stores. I will also look at the impact these stores have on poor communities.
If you are being abused or know someone who is being abused you can call the following numbers: Harriet Tubman Center, 612-825-0000; Domestic Abuse Project, 612-673-3526; Minnesota Domestic Abuse Hotline, 1-866-223-1111; National Domestic Abuse Hotline, 1-800-799-SAFE.
Booker T welcomes reader responses to [EMAIL PROTECTED], or you can call the Spokesman at 612-827-4021 and leave a message.
Booker T Hodges North side
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