Bodega is the Spanish word for a small neighborhood store, but in New York City, it’s a small store that plays a very large role in the community. Maria Hinojosa of NPR visits a few of the 10,000 family-run businesses that dot the city.
In my hometown the bodega workers will pull guns and shoot right back at anyone who try’s robbing them or causing any problems . At least from what I’ve seen and all the ones around my neighborhood they don’t take nobody’s crap period .
Pretty much any local mom and pop store. I don't think ethnicity matters. Though each usually have general items with one or two unique specialities, food/liquor/etc exclusive that big markets don't sell. They always give me a blast from the past of nostalgia, as there pretty unchanged even with all technology nowadays.
Bodegas were begun by the first Puerto Ricans that arrived in NYC almost 100 years ago. At that early time, there weren't many, if any people who spoke Spanish, let alone somewhere where they could find their food staples, spices and ingredients. They opened food stores that catered only to them selling food products they consumed. They called these stores Bodega which is a Spanish word for Cellar because this was the place where their food was stored and sold to their communities. In the early to mid 70's most of these Bodegas were sold and bought by Dominicans who were then beginning to arrive en masse to NYC.
Yeah I’m not understanding what Is so awe I-inspiring about literal run-of-the-mill convenience stores. we have these in East Boston and we just call them corner stores - no need to create some mysterious narrative around the most common type of establishment on the planet
I will say this there are very few convenience stores with fresh hot food in the midwest I've been to two through work (one we did landscaping for and they gave us free burritos:) the other I stopped to grab a red bull and saw a full retro diner counter in a gas station everywhere has convenience stores but typically the food is ya know 711 nachos and I enjoy those but that chili is questionable (I still eat it buy ya know)
@@kingsittystudios2400 "Food Desert" refers to communities with retail outlets that mostly stock and sell processed foods, without much fresh veg, meat and dairy.
I get the sentiment of the bodega and the familiar faces who run them in those communities, but it is basically a packed convenience store with fresh made food.
Impossible to do that in my country. You'll need a separate sanitary clean tiled room with fridges to keep your eggs at 8° degrees Celcius. You will need a chefs diploma to treat food. So basically all these bodegas we had in the past went broke or were closed down by our FDA for not complying with local and national rules. It is even hard to sell only cigarettes, gazettes and beverages. You can't do lottery. So, they all close. In Belgium communist government is against capitalism of any kine unless the rulers get their fair share in profits. Nobody can open a small shop without the obligatory professional and administrative formation. Europe is a kafkaian dictocracy. Read Das Prozess by Kafka to get a taste. Some businesses are allowed to distribute freely Chinese smartphones worth 600 USD cuz they get refunded by the state and they compete in the same market with companies that have to sell their smartphones and don't get state money. All this my government does to maintain equality, good citizenship and fair trade. Thank you.
My family has owned restaurants for over 35 years and my husband and I have run them for about 20 years ... my family said the same thing about doing something different... we wouldn’t change anything we love our restaurants and our patrons...keep your dream alive girlfriend... it’s ALL WORTH IT ... would love to visit after COVID is stomped out ✌️😌
This sounds like establishments that'd be common in southern California, though I've never been in one. Must have been in a different part of town. I'll keep an eye out for one next time!
In California Our Version of Bodegas are Corner stores or Liquor stores ANd are almost all owned by Arabs and sometimes Indians or Asians To be honest I never ever seen one owned by Latinos out here. Latinos mostly Own Mexican food or Latino Food product stores or Small Grocery stores in the West Coast.
Even if it were to end up being some bougie corner boutique owned by Becky that tries to sell "impossible chopped cheese", bodegas would be indispensable in the food deserts that comprise of most residential areas all over America. Proly not the big cities (...cause they already have them), but in suburbs, residential parts of "highway towns" away from the main strip and the various "belts" (corn belt, rust belt, bible belts) where jobs are at their highest demand, the concept of the bodega could breathe life into a dying community. Who knows - they may actually gain traction once people realize they don't HAVE to be owned by hispanic or middle eastern people😏. This IS America, after all...
Bodegas are nice but i cant imagine living off the food there. It's all sodium laden junk food. I know they gotta sell what makes money but where's the grocery store?
Bodegas provided a link to Puerto Rico everything from the products they carried to the towns in Puerto Rico from which they derived their names. There are leadership roles the owners of these businesses hold in the community. Bodegas are places where friends and neighbors would meet up to socialize. In the past. it was the social fabric of the Puerto Rican community in addition to serving the Hispanic population of New York City.
I wonder if a big name convenience store came in like 7-Eleven etc. would it change the demographics of the people coming in there? Every time I hear of a bodega it’s because something bad has happened there.
They use to have a lot of corner stores, just like bodega's, in LA, bck n the day! Majority were black owned! Now most are gone! Nice how new York keeps their tradition going! Maybe 7-11 made them disappear! Well basically people sold out!
In Cal, the stereotype is the convenience store, like 7-11, owned and operated by Indian, Korean, Middle-Eastern men, that are often hit on by gangstas.
In the Philippines, bodega is where we store old and broken things. So expect cobwebs, rats, spiders and roaches together with old memories when you go to our bodega. 😂😂😂
@@gladimirsavinon104 Every bodega I’ve seen in the movies is depicted by rude employee,some sort of drug deal going on inside or outside the store and a fight. but it seems the movies are not too far off considering the news especially as of lately with so many robberies and murders.
Bodega is a warehouse not a convenience store. Just another example of Puerto Ricans messing up the Spanish language and the east coast following suit.