Regional terms for corner stores/bodegas
What are the different regional terms for the neighborhood mom and pop stores? New York calls them "bodegas", and some places in the U.S. refer to them as "corner stores". Some places may also call them "liquor stores". Are there any other terms used to identify them?
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“Newsagents” here are much the same thing, though they will sell at best packaged food and never have the deli counter that some bodegas might.
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Convenience Store.
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In Metro Detroit, party stores.
In NYC, usually bodegas, but sometimes delis or Korean delis (they're rarely Korean these days, more likely run by someone from Yemen or Bangledesh, but I still often hear the term). Of course all these terms are nonsensical. Why "party stores"? Not a place for party favors. Why "bodegas"? Usually means wine storage in Spanish-speaking countries. Korean delis aren't Korean or delis (though they usually have made-to-order sandwiches, which might account for the distinction with bodegas). |
My extended family in New Brunswick calls them "Beckers".
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Convenience stores. Just no cats.
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Individual locally owned shops were referred to as the corner store in the Vancouver area where I grew up.
Convenience stores were for chain stores, such as 7-11. |
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I've never heard anyone here use the word "bodega". |
I grew up in Erie PA. They were both corner stores and bodegas.
Bodegas were usually owneed by Puerto Ricans or Dominicans. Corner stores were usually owned by Italians or Greeks. The corner store down the street from my house growing up was called the Colonial Pantry (there was nothing really "Colonial" about it). It was owned by Greeks. In Pittsburgh, it's corner store. I've never heard 'bodega' in Pittsburgh, there's no such thing there. In Miami, they really don't exist in the same way. Sometimes they're called "markets" or "farm stores". Or people just say "CVS" or "Walgreens" |
I'm still not sure if "pony keg" is strictly a liquor store or a mini mart in Cincinnati?
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In Montreal, since the mid seventies, they are called "Dépanneurs", or deps by French and English speakers alike. The word Dépanneur refers to something between a helper and a rescuer. When I was a kid in the sixties and seventies, they were called Tabagie which is an erroneous name for a tobacco shop or cigar store. In France, they are called "Tabac" which is straight "tobacco". Tabagie refers to the habit of smoking. A lot of corner stores were also called "Variétés" or variety store.
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“the corner” or corner store. heres a few from neighborhoods ive lived in over the years where i was a regular. not all are on corners of course...
http://gustinemarket.weebly.com/uplo...65/1729106.jpg gustinemarket.weebly.com https://i1.ypcdn.com/blob/706a3f5b51...0x260_crop.jpg i1.ypcdn.com https://patch.com/img/cdn/users/8998...2e74781520.jpg patch.com |
Grew up calling them delicatessens, but today there seems to be no rhyme or reason in what they are called, although most often by store name (and not always the right name). Local chains called The Corner Store and Convenient Food Mart have almost become generic for most any chain store. Stores call themselves market, deli, min-mart, express mart. Although I have seen some referred to as "bodegas" in local press or online reviews, I pass this off as authors who may have moved here from NYC. Never heard it from a local.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ee41f3b9_z.jpg Ray Market by bpawlik, on Flickr https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...91f86756_z.jpg Corner Mart by bpawlik, on Flickr https://live.staticflickr.com/1923/4...1f28b3dd_z.jpg Express Deli by bpawlik, on Flickr https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5cae4d24_z.jpg IMG_2434 by bpawlik, on Flickr https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b8a96a24_z.jpg Main Food by bpawlik, on Flickr https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...04d7c4da_z.jpgBlack Rock Market by bpawlik, on Flickr |
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I mean, Pittsburgh is not the type of city that really has "scattered corner storefronts in a residential area" as a building typology. Either you have a commercial strip or you have nothing. And the type of businesses which end up on corners aren't really convience-store type places (unless they are literal gas stations). |
Another thing is that corner stores are kind of a dying breed.
Sprawl doesn't have corner stores. Small town America has very few, wiped out by Walmarts and Dollar Generals. The Sunbelt has few. Older urban cities have them, but 7-11s, Wawas and the like are taking over. Even in NYC, bodegas are disappearing. The NYT did an analysis a few years back, and the number has dropped by half or something in the last few years. And we have few 7-11s. The remainder seem to be renovating into mini gourmet markets, in gentrifying areas, or barely hanging on in working class areas. |
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In Asia, however, corner stores are everyfuckingwhere. Especially in Japan, where they sell lots of on-the-go meals, in addition to all the things you would expect in corner stores, and much more besides, with far more competitive pricing vis a vis supermarkets, etc. |
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