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Family Dollar Expands Its Bed-Stuy Empire
By The Changeling | February 19, 2008
If you’ve been hankering for three dollar nightgowns and cheap plastic goods made in China, then your prayers have been answered. It is with mixed feelings that I report that a Family Dollar is opening soon on Nostrand between Myrtle and Park Avenues. I have mixed feelings about this because as much as I hate to admit it, I know I’m going to end up inside that Family Dollar buying something.
When I left the south many years ago, I thought that I would never have to see another Family Dollar again, and I didn’t see one until I moved to Bed-Stuy a couple of years ago. I was on Franklin Avenue, heading to collecther vintage clothing shop when I saw the red and white Family Dollar sign. I was stunned that such a store would exist in New York–I expected discount stores to be here, but I always assumed that they would be the home grown variety like Fat/Fad Albert’s Discount Store and Gem Discount Store on Broadway. I remember thinking that the presence of that Family Dollar was a fluke and that it probably would go out of business soon, but a year later I was walking along Dekalb and I spotted ANOTHER Family Dollar store. I think I tried to chalk that up to coincidence. But now we have a third Family Dollar being birthed on Nostrand and three occurrences of anything makes it a trend.
With residents who DRIVE to the supermarket, every car with a license plate from either Georgia or The Carolinas, a Rent-A-Center on Fulton Street, the aroma of fried chicken wafting from every takeout joint, and the ubiquity of Family Dollar, I can hardly tell that I’ve left the south.
February 19th, 2008 at 11:34 am
What’s next, Dollar General? Waffle House?
Marty Markowitz tried to woo the aptly named Cracker Barrel a couple of years ago amid much protest because of their history of discrimination.
Still, while there are an awful lot of southerners living up here, no restaurant in town knows how to make either biscuits or corn bread.
February 19th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Ah, Dope! There are tears streaming down my face! I didn’t mention Dollar General and Dollar Tree, because I didn’t think anyone would know what I was talking about. I half expect to stumble upon a Dollar General in Bed-Stuy within the next year or so. You really hit on what’s truly bothersome, and that’s the homogenization of American cities. I’m from a moderate-sized town in the south and it has the same Home Depot, the same Popeye’s, the same Walgreens, the same Family Dollar and the same Rent-a-Center, the same Dunkin’ Donuts, and on and on and on.
Interesting stuff about Cracker Barrel’s attempted entry into Brooklyn.
Right on about the cornbread. When I was growing up it tasted like cake and was very moist. Every version that I’ve tasted in New York is dry and crumbly and not so good. Plus, these restaurants never have cracklin’ cornbread! And they call themselves down home southern restaurants. Ha!
February 19th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Hey Petra, cracklin cornbread has the “fatback” in it right…. Your absolutely right the coenbread here can really make you homesick. Guess you’ll have to head down to the new Duane Reade and get a box of Jiffy!!
February 19th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
LOL! Right–cracklin’ cornbread is for those special times when the fat content of regular cornbread simply isn’t high enough. I’ll be picking up that celebratory box of Jiffy from Duane Reade as soon as they open.
February 20th, 2008 at 8:05 am
Cracklin’ cornbread sounds pretty good.
I’ve never tried Jiffy. The feudin’ Scots Irish hillbillies that raised me used Martha White cornbread mix or just plain yellow cornmeal. We didn’t use fatback, but we did use bacon grease as the shortening (Crisco was considered the “healthy” alternative). Also, we always used a cast iron skillet.
As for the sweeter cakey stuff, my mammaw called that “corn light bread,” and she made that with white cornmeal, flour and a bit of sugar. I’ve tasted something like that up in Boston, but it’s still not the same.
One thing they do have around here is pretty good greens. I was at Key Food the other day and they had a brand of pre-washed greens called “Cut-Rite” in several varieties (collar, beet, mustard, kale). I picked up a package of smoked turkey wings and then worked that magic spell.
One of the customer reps at the Verizon store at Atlantic Center told me there was a really good soul food restaurant on Atlantic, but I can’t remember the name of it.
February 22nd, 2008 at 10:46 am
Dallas BBQ has pretty good cornbread (of the moister variety).
I’m from New England so we didn’t have any of that stuff.