I have to admit that when I heard last week that this was going to happen, I purposely didn’t express an opinion one way or the other when I posted the newsbreak on Twitter/Facebook. I wasn’t sure what the reaction would be and I had some mixed feelings myself. Since then, the news spread like wildfire and, at least during this first week, there has been outcry and lament. Slowly, I am starting to rhear some voices from the other side of the argument. So I wanted to, for posterity’s sake, state my thoughts on the matter.
Within the context of Greater Boston (and especially within the city limits of Boston) Jamaica Plain is a special place. As a JP resident since the 1990′s I have witnessed growth and change and seen a community find its identity, its voice, and its strength. JP is proudly the home to many significant organizations like the JP NDC, Bikes Not Bombs, Vida Urbana, Hyde Square Task Force,Neighbors for Neighbors, Spontaneous Celebrations, and a grove of other community focused groups. Restaurants and businesses in Jamaica Plain, like Bella Luna/Milky Way, City Feed and Supply, Rhythm & Muse, Boomerangs (to name a few) have provided a vitality to the community that goes beyond their products and service.
We have a history of fostering and supporting locally owned business. I remember my quiet fist-pump at the news that a Domino’s Pizza owner was convincingly rebuffed when he, rather surreptitiously, omitted the corporate affiliation on his application. “JP doesn’t take kindly to corporate outsiders*”, I said to myself. As a Realtor who often sells in Jamaica Plain this predilection for local over corporate was/is a point of pride; a source of value. When landlords do little to hold up their end of the bargain, we make waves. When businesses are adversely affected by tragedy or disaster, we pitch in.
Known as Boston’s Latin Quarter, the area that extends from Hyde Square toward Jackson Square has been a place where a large portion of Boston’s Latino community and culture has thrived. There are few businesses along Centre Street where Spanish isn’t at least recognized. I tasted my first empanada in JP. I used to love that Pedro Martinez would come to UpMike’s Liquor in Hyde Square to get his Presidente lager. David Ortiz came to Hyde Square for his haircuts. Led by Mariano Rivera, many of the Latino members of the New York Yankees would always stop into to see Juan Reyes at Miami Restaurant whenever the team was in Boston. I have bought more than a few guayabera shirts at Vassallo’s over the years. And it has not only been Hispanic businesses that lend to Hyde Square’s identity.
One of Boston’s first tattoo parlors, Fat Ram’s Pumpkin Tattoo was not only welcomed in Hyde Square, but it’s flourished. The Video Underground, Revolution Bike Repair, The Haven, Sorella’s, Captain Nemo’s, Yely’s, Tacos el Charro, Bella Luna, the Milky Way, Ultra Salon, Brendan Behan Pub, Food Wall, Oriental de Cuba are all businesses that have given Hyde Square (and JP) a flavor that is unique and held dearly by its denizens.
And of course, one of the biggest landmarks (at least by dimension) has been the Hi-Lo Food Market. I remember when I was a chef at the Black Crow, I could find exotic and hard to find spices there for next to nothing prices. I was fluent in Spanish at the time and never spoke English when I shopped there. I would buy plantains, cigarettes, spices, rice, sauces and other home kitchen supplies. I loved that they had (I presume) every flag from every Latino nation in the Western hemisphere.
For this, for the fact that a somewhat emblematic market would be supplanted by a faceless, ‘yuppy’ national entity like Whole Foods, I find the change a sobering reminder that sometimes, the fundamental tenets of our capitalist economy facilitate changes like this and local flavors get watered down by corporate interests.
We see this happening almost every where else, but we wanted Jamaica Plain to be the hold-out. But alas, the fear now becomes: what next? Will visitors to Hyde Square be asking for venti coffees from baristas or ordering the number 7 super-sized? With a few empty store fronts and a few landlords who have little in the way of community loyalty, this isn’t out of the realm of possibility. Will the slippery slope to corporate-ized homogenized Jamaica Plain start begin insidiously with organic and corn-fed poultry? If anything the debate and media attention this has inspired is a comforting reminder of the community’s vitality and vigilance.
For years there were rumors that Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s was trying to muscle in on the Hi-Lo space. While I do admit to enjoying the very particular experience of shopping at Hi-Lo, I always felt that they could do better when it came to most of the actual products they sold. Call me a snob, but I felt their meats and poultry and much of their produce was sub-par. For what is now being referred to as a badge for Latino culture, its ownership didn’t work so hard on the presentation end. Whenever I have a big or important meal to cook, aside from Ming’s in the South End, Whole Foods in either Brighton or Dedham is on my list of places to shop, not Hi Lo. Even now, I do almost 70% of my food shopping at Harvest (mostly out of convenience) and the rest is split between City Feed and Supply and Costco.
While I would have much preferred Trader Joe’s (they seem to have a
business model more in line with the quirkyness of Jamaica Plain) I can say that considering that I will no longer have to suffer the peristaltic waves of traffic indigestion on Washington Street to Brighton or Route 1 to Dedhem, I am happy to save the time and headache. And as a Realtor, I can say unequivocally that this change will only heighten the profile of the neighborhood and, at least in the longer term, provide a little equity by association to the area property owners. At least it’s not a WalMart!
I guess, even after writing this, my feelings are still conflicted. I know that many of my friends in JP would be upset that I even consider the benefits of this change. I’m sure the debate will carry on for some time. I’m sure that many of the folks who protest will eventually find themselves in the check out line. The important thing, I believe, is that Jamaica Plain is a community that will engage in debate and allow for discussion. ¡Viva Jamaica Plain!
* The major exception here, of course, is Dunkin Donuts.
BJ Ray has been serving Greater Boston’s Real Estate needs since 2005, specializing in negotiating strategy, marketing, and market analysis. You can follow BJ on Twitter or visit his website BJRAY.COM.
Franky Benítez 
Excellent points! Many have oversimplified this debate, to the detriment of clear thinking. I wish I could be as impartial and free as you of the bitterness this debate has aroused, but my bitterness stems from the condescending tone that certain voices have taken.
So, having affirmed your balanced views, I would submit that there is NOT a shortage of Latin markets and products here in JP and, further, that any condescending dilettante who seriously thinks that JP is somehow in danger of losing its access to sub-par meat and canned Goya products should go ahead and feel free to rent a retail space in the area, stock the shelves with past sale date crap, and embark on preaching the gospel of food for budget shoppers. Let’s make the bet and see what happens!
The tastes and wants of consumers will prove the venture to be relevant or pointless, but I suspect no idle activists will take the bet, as it would involve something that too closely resembles real work.
What do consumers know about what they need anyway? It’s a scientific fact that the educated activist knows better for them than they do!
It is the height of arrogance for anyone to decide for someone else that they are unfit to make their own shopping decisions. There are a lot of shrill voices telling me that I am too ignorant to see through Whole Foods’ corporate lies. Even if that mouthful is not B.S., I will still spend my hard-earned dollars as I please, thank you very much, whether at Whole Foods, Pimentel, The Haymarket, the farmers’ market behind Bank of America, or elsewhere.
And I wonder if Pimentel Market, Freddy’s, and Fernandez Spa are somehow unworthy of any love and support in the midst of this lament over gentrification. They are certainly far cleaner, sell better products and as family-owned businesses seem to show a much higher morale among staff than could ever be witnessed in that cat-piss-smelling sweatshop: the dear old HiLo.
Finally, I wonder why these disgruntled unwashed can’t focus their attention on the six obvious storefronts of evil corporate tyranny within our fair borders: two CVS’s, three Dunkin Donuts, and the Stop & Shop? Or, better yet, go after the profiteering capitalist lowlives who own Harvest Coop, Centre Street Cafe, and City Greed! Now there are some first-rate ripoff artists who should give Whole Foods some tips, having played their community PR hand better and having not committed the Marxist Bible’s sin of going public.
My conclusion is that, with the Vietnam War over, these types find few opportunities for their altruistic grandstanding. So I guess I’ll just wish them a good time with their picket signs. They’ll be buying $7 a pound garlic at City Greed anyway!
The simplest prescription for the vocal minority opposed to Whole Foods: don’t shop there!
We love JP!
Thanks for your comments!