No one else is saying it, so I will.
The Thriftway serve(s/d) a different part of the community than Fresh
Grocer, a wider cross-section, and my pleasure in shopping at
Thriftway is partly in interacting with new immigrants, members of
the black community in a more relaxed mode, and all the other various
people who actually live in the neighborhoods with us. In the
aisles, waiting in the check-out line, interacting with the cashiers,
and on my way in and out of the store. In my day to day routines,
frankly, I don't often have such opportunities, without a little bit
of extra effort.
We all have to eat to live, so a supermarket tends to bring everyone
out. The town square, if you like, a civic arena. But Fresh Grocer
doesn't welcome that sort of atmosphere. Being in there makes me
uptight, especially compared with my gut feeling in Thriftway.
And for produce, there's that truck on 44th street.
I could go on, but I'm sure the people who know what I'm talking
about could go on just as well, and those who don't get it, well, I
feel sorry for them and what they're missing. (De gustibus non est
disputandum -- which means, don't argue with me about my tastes.)
If there are new owners, they'll probably restock and work on the
sorts of problems that some have cited. But given the location, the
history and present market served, it will have to find a different
balancing point, culturally and economically, than the Fresh
Grocer's. From the discussion here, it's evident that they'll never
get much of the Penn students, staff, and camp followers, and that
will just have to be another one of the dividing lines in our
community.
--
Kirk Wattles
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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