A Guest Post by David Warner, Owner of City Feed
First off I want to say that I love Jamaica Plain. I have lived here for almost 20 years—most of my adult life. It is where I have chosen to make my home as an adult. I met my wife here. Our son was born here.
Some of the things that definitely drew me to this neighborhood and kept me here are its history of community activism, its spirit of service, its spirit of creativity and the neighborliness that abounds.
The closing of the Hi Lo has kicked up a lot of impassioned discussion about the past, present, and future of this neighborhood. It is precisely the fact that so many folks are feeling moved to speak that deepens my appreciation for this neighborhood. We may not all agree on every aspect of these discussions, but I think we can all agree that we have a deep appreciation for this place we call home and we are all willing to be pro-active in its evolution.
Beyond the obvious fact that I am the co-founder and co-owner of a business in the neighborhood already competing for and sharing customers with Whole Foods, I want to primarily address my personal feelings about this potential change in the landscape of Jamaica Plain.
For me, there are three great ways to appreciate the character of this neighborhood. First and foremost are the people. It takes all kinds to make the kind of neighborhood I want to live in, and we got that. Many different ethnicities, same sex couples, families and singles, hippies, Yuppies, blue collar, white collar, artists, activists, students of all kinds, hipsters, slackers, gardeners, and bikers. Some work here and live elsewhere, others live here and work elsewhere, but we are all neighbors to each other. And we have chosen to be neighbors.
Secondly there are the hills and the trees, the parks and the ponds, the shaded backyards and puddingstone outcrops, the triple deckers, brick projects and pondside mansions, in short, the physical landscape of our neighborhood.
And thirdly there are the businesses that are a manifestation of the people of this neighborhood. From Meatland to Harvest Co-op, from Doyle’s to Ten Tables, from the Farmers Markets to the Latin Markets, From Yely’s Coffee Shop to Ula Café, from Star Fish to JP Seafood. We may not all shop in all of these businesses all of the time, but they all contribute to the character of this neighborhood and are manifestations of its uniqueness and its diversity
There will always be flux and evolution in every aspect of this neighborhood. People come and go for all sorts of reasons. Businesses fail and succeed. Buildings are replaced and remodeled.
I accept that change happens and it may not always be to my liking. But I also feel strongly that we all share an appreciation for the uniqueness of this neighborhood and that one of the most effective ways we can work to keep it unique is to support the businesses we see as a manifestation of that uniqueness. Big Business does many things very effectively. Contributing to the uniqueness of a neighborhood is not one of them. Big Business is very responsive to how you vote. Please vote with your heart and your feet and your dollars to keep JP unique.
Franky Benítez 
David,
I love your store, became addicted to your cheese counter after a grand tasting at Blanchards, am consistently cheered by your sandwiches on a gray day and love that groups can sit at your tables over cups of coffee and make the kinds of decisions that shape our neighborhood and public policy. It serves an important role in our community and one that can ill afford to be lost.
I understand the impact Whole Foods will have on your business, especially at your Boylston Street location, but I still find your reasoning for it a bit odd. After all, didn’t your Centre/Seaverns location open directly across the street from JP Licks, another business that was a manifestation of the people in this neighborhood — though noticeably absent from your list? Doesn’t that business draw a customer base reflective of the diversity of the community, especially during the summer months?
Yet, as you’re well aware, coffee and espresso are the other pillars of their business. Despite this, you opened a shop on the corner with coffee and espresso featured prominently on your sign and put yourself in direct competition with that other neighborhood business and — more than likely — drew business away from JP Licks, at least in the early going.
What kind of example does that set? That it’s OK to cannibalize other local businesses as long as your store isn’t part of a publicly traded company? If you were willing to do that to a local institution under the guise of good business, how can you or anyone else be surprised when outside businesses then come in and want to do the same?
Your business is part of what keeps JP unique, but so is JP Licks and so is Harvest — two stores your new shop now competes against directly. Neither of those stores has taken a stance against Whole Foods, nor did they try to keep you from opening in the Centre/Seaverns space. In fact, they helped keep D’Angelo’s out so you could take the spot.
As I said, I love your store and will continue to shop there, but your definition of the “fabric of our community” seems to be shaped by how you’ve minded your own knitting. Some of us get our morning coffee at Fiore’s, some at one of the two Dunkin Donuts on Centre. Some of us have Harvest cards on our keychains and wait for the member appreciation sales, but some of us have Stop & Shop cards on our keychains and cut coupons.
The chains that have come to our neighborhood have provided a service as valuable as your own, as important to the neighborhood as your own and as important to the employment base as your own. They haven’t driven out the other businesses, mostly because tastes and preferences in JP are as diverse as the people who hold them. Keeping the Domino’s out, though, didn’t stop other pizza places from opening up and diminishing the returns for others. Keeping D’Angelo’s out didn’t cut or decrease competition among sandwich shops here. Keeping a Whole Foods out won’t stop the next David Warner who comes along from offering your services at a nearby location at lesser costs.
For a businessman whose shop has pushed other locals to compete for survival on their own merits, I’m surprised you haven’t shown similar fortitude when asked to do the same. I wish you the best of luck against Whole Foods and hope that your store and Harvest continue to enjoy the loyal customer base that keeps Harvest alive against two Whole Foods Markets in Cambridge and stores like yours going against Whole Foods in cities across the country.
Sincerely,
Jason Notte
Jason, thanks for posting this here.