The" Corner Grocery Store"

The other day, I read an article about poverty in America (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/17/AR2009051702053.html). It concluded something profound, in that poor people end up staying poor because they are essentially "trapped" in a state of poverty. In one example, they mention that poor people often do not have cars, or cannot afford the high cost of gasoline, so they are unable to shop at mass retail outlets such as Costco or Savemart. They purchase the bulk of their daily goods--shampoo or groceries--at the corner grocery store down the street.

Today, I walked into one.

It was located somewhere between 40th and 43rd Market St. I had been taking photos of a construction site, and I figured why not, better now than never to explore the region. Before I got to the store, I saw a funeral procession taking place outside a church. It was strangely distant.

The shop was an immensely cramped space. I don't recall exactly what items were being sold, but there was this glass container which had for sale some used cell phones. This, mind you, was a convenient store to size of an average room. But it had the peculiar quality of being a center of all goods, a miniature Walmart.

I will go back this afternoon to investigate some more details. However, here are some pictures of the shop, and the price of the cheese (which is definitely not cheap).