WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES NOVEMBER 4, 2021 15
THE RACE TO DELIVER
will eat into their profi ts and community service
income, better users of technology and
whatnot,” Bello said.
Mubarez said the bodegas in those
areas are the ones most likely to take
a blow to business as the apps expand
and become more popular — and those
stores are also the ones that were already
struggling with fewer customers
and less revenue during the pandemic.
“When you’re talking about food deserts
and low-income neighborhoods, I
don’t think these websites accept EBT
or food stamps or anything like that,” he
said. “Again, it’s not going into the neighborhoods
the bodegas are serving.”
A large number of corner stores are
immigrant-owned and operated, and
they’re a cornerstone for many families,
Mubarez said.
“They’re coming here, they’re looking
for a job, owners of bodegas are looking
for people to hire,” he said. “It’s a
simple job, but it pays well, and it comes
with enough work to keep you busy. If
you’re talking about specifi c Yemeni
immigrants, that’s the only option they
have. They barely know the language,
they don’t know what to do, and their
cousin or their brother has a store, and
it’s the fi rst thing they jump into.”
Bello used one of the apps aft er he
stayed overnight in Wil- l i ams -
burg recently, he said,
and he was impressed.
“In 14 minutes,
I got my
product,” he
said. “I lost, I
lost the game.
The only
thing that
could be different
from
that experience
is that the
guy that is
coming from
the bodega, I
know the guy,
and that is
powerful.”
“The sandwiches,
the coff ee,
the gossip,” he said. “You go to
the bodega to know what’s going on on
the corner, right, there’s a community
component. How do you create a substitution
for that? Maybe I’m a romantic,
but the bodega is part of the fabric of
New York.”
Jay Son, who owns
Green Ivy Organic in
Gowanus, isn’t too concerned
about the grocery
delivery apps.
The store, which off ers
an array of fresh fruits,
vegetables, and fresh
fl owers, is slightly larger
than a regular bodega,
and is only a block away
from the R-train subway
stop. Park Slopers headed
home from work like to
stop in aft er they get off
the train, he said.
Son thinks that the grocery
delivery apps don’t
carry as many items as
his store does. He also
believes that customers
like to pick out groceries for
themselves and enjoy the human
interaction.
“People still wanna come and check
out the products,” Son said. “And then
some people enjoy shopping. This is
real life. Those apps aren’t real life.
People want to come and talk to the
cashier about their day.”
‘THE SLEEPING GIANT’
Mubarez said bodegas are hardy,
but not invulnerable — and he hopes
the companies themselves or the city
will take action to protect them.
“I’m not going to say we’re not worried,
I’m getting a lot of people who
are sending me these links, that’s why
I’ve heard of JOKR,” Mubarez said.
“They have these maps of like, coverage
areas that they have, and whenever
they come out the deli owner
sends them to me, he’s like ‘This is in
my area, what should I do?’”
“We have to make sure they’re taking
our people into consideration, if
they’re not, they’re facing the sleeping
giant who is no longer sleeping.”
Next week’s installment will focus on
real estate and transit impacts of the
grocery delivery apps.
A Buyk courier delivers groceries in the Village. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
/WWW.QNS.COM
