Bodega owners ask NYC for help as grocery delivery apps expand in Five Boroughs... UPDATE 7/17/22

King Poetic

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You have to adjust or be ahead of the game before something like this happen

but many of places are businesses that fukk over low income blacks with 6 dollars for a loaf of bread and 10 for milk meanwhile going back to jersey every night living good

if these places focus on the community they in and build relationships with the folks some would survived
 

bnew

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New York City bodegas and delis are fighting back against 15-minute delivery startups. A group representing local grocers, the Save Mom-and-Pop Business Coalition, rallied on Sunday with elected officials, calling out the venture capitalist-backed services they say threaten the city’s small businesses. The rally took place outside of Stop 1 Deli, a Lower East Side bodega located directly across the street from GoPuff, one of the delivery services in question. Delivery services like GoPuff have moved into large spaces on commercial strips, morphing them into warehouses stuffed with groceries and other goods.



Several ultrafast grocers have launched services across the city, including Fridge No More, Buyk, JOKR, Gorillas, DashMart, and GoPuff. As the New York Times reported late last year, the companies buy in bulk directly from manufacturers and are able to keep overhead low by not needing employees to check out customers.

During the rally, representatives from the United Bodegas of America, the Bodega and Small Business Association, and the New York State Coalition of Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, spoke of ways to compete with these large corporations, touching on the lack of public support for small businesses.

In March 2020, a new app called My Bodega Online launched, offering free grocery delivery and pickup from local delis. While currently the app is available to residents in the Bronx, the goal is to expand the app to reach more neighborhoods.


The groups also announced support for New York State Assembly bill 1812, legislation to control the growth of monopolies that are driving independently-owned stores out of business.

GoPuff and other delivery services are a product of the pandemic, offering customers a way to get their groceries without contact. Critics say this business practice leaves no room for the small businesses in neighborhoods these companies move into.

Council Member Chris Marte joined officials for the rally, advocating for the small businesses that are part of New York City’s culture.

“Unchecked start-ups like these are currently exploiting the suffering of small businesses during COVID, and capitalizing off of this hard time for our mom and pop shops,” Marte said. “As the son of a bodega owner, I know how these businesses are what hold the fabric of immigrant communities together. VC-backed tech companies should work with the existing innovative and diverse infrastructure that these small businesses have already forged.”

In his statement, Marte also spoke about zoning loopholes corporations utilize to create warehouses. These loopholes take advantage of zoning regulations made during Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration which, as the Bowery Boogie described, “favored deregulation of storefront usage under an overly broad idea of ‘mixed-use.'”

“Small business is uniting to protect its interests and ensure that NYC’s robust innovation and diversity continues to provide opportunity for immigrant entrepreneurs,” Frank Garcia, chair of the National Association of State Latino Chambers of Commerce, said.


“We don’t need Wall Street-backed companies displacing the neighborhood stores that give life and community to NYC. We are not going to stand by without fighting fiercely to protect our interests.”

Last month, DoorDash launched its own ultra-fast grocery delivery service called DashMart. The service will first be available in Chelsea, and will later expand to other neighborhoods across the city. DoorDash said it plans to partner with small businesses like bodegas to help them offer fast deliveries. The company said it will also partner with the Yemeni American Merchant Association (YAMA), a small business advocacy organization representing 6,000 Yemeni American-owned bodegas in New York.
 

Luke Cage

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Bodega owners who tend to exploit the community’s lack of resources and never reinvest in the same community or customers where they set up shop to access wealth, are complaining about being exploited and outsourced by wealthier corporate owners for their lack of investment in the community, where they operate while infringing on the customer base. Interesting paradox.
Bodegas built their store models selling the unhealthiest snacks and packed processed foods; have an issue with people actually being able to order salad prep, vegetables and fruit juices/sodas that don’t contain 99% high fructose corn syrup and sugar. To stock up on items they want and need instead of what they are being forced to get bc the people lack options and availability. As long as these delivery apps don’t discriminate when it comes to the delivery radius of certain neighborhoods and actually hire local community people for grocery delivery and warehouse packaging, I take no issue with it.

These Bodegas are getting the wake up call to expand their offerings from chopped cheese, $15 box of Tide that costs $7.00 at a big box shop, $4 Snapple’s and hostess snacks. Dude is talking about “bbb-buttt we delivered when no one else did” as he fails to disclose the $20-$40 up charge that he taxed poor communities at the height of the pandemic. I need to see the documentation and tac disclosure paperwork on these charitable contributions and free services that Akhi claims he “provided” to the community out of the goodness of his hot hamncheese selling heart. Don’t get me going in on these Asian bodega owners with their 4 to a store unwritten policies.
agree with this entirely. I was never a fan of these bodegas. Often times real grocery stores seem to avoid our communties, and lower income people who can't make that drive are force to buy these marked up bs that these arabs are selling to us. I would love to see them go out of business.
 

Mowgli

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Goodbye mom n pop. We want to make sure everyone is making $15 an hour so let's shop with billionaires
 
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