First there was the Snowpocalypse of 2011 where dozens of cars were stranded on Lake Shore Drive, and now Chicago can say it survived Chiberia 2014.
Barely a week into the new year, we were hit by two feet of snow in some areas and a record low of 42 below zero with the wind chill. That’s right. We were colder than the South Pole and even the Lincoln Park Zoo polar bear was forced indoors. Schools and businesses were closed for fear of limbs snapping off in the bitter temperatures. I, for one, huddled in my apartment for three days catching up on some much needed cleaning and making oatmeal (but also watching an absurd amount of The West Wing).
When the thermometer finally hit the double digits, I emerged from my apartment to gather some much needed groceries. Unfortunately, my Trader Joe’s was wiped clean of any produce. It was ransacked Sunday morning as soon as the weather alerts went off, and the trucks were unable to make it through with fresh supplies. This was a familiar story across the Midwest as everyone went into panic mode, which was no surprise.
What is more concerning is how apparent it was for the first time how much my neighborhood depends on one grocery store. As of December 28, 2013, Safeway pulled all Dominick’s stores out of the Chicago market. I admit that I did not split my weekly purchases evenly between Dominick’s and Trader Joe’s, but each store served a specific purpose. I love the produce at Trader Joe’s and their unique goods, like cookie butter, mochi ice cream and peppermint Joe Joe’s. But I don’t always need organic flour and sugar for my baking projects, and some people, like myself, can’t live without Skippy Reduced Fat Peanut Butter.
Some grocers are slowly adopting the empty Dominick’s locations, such as Jewel and Mariano’s, but mine still stands empty, dust accumulating on the long vacant shelves. These larger grocery retailers would be perfect substitutes for the market Dominick’s catered to in our diverse neighborhood of families and college students. However, Whole Foods and Mrs. Greens are also feasible tenants. Can we tolerate another specialty grocer, though? Not everyone can afford to buy specialty items all of the time, especially college students who haven’t even made their first loan payment, pushing them to travel farther to find the better deal. Thinking long term, it could further increase the cost of living in the neighborhood and make it harder for students and new graduates to afford the area. Will the specialty grocer be the next fad, like cupcake and fro yo shops, that overstay their welcome?
Don’t get me wrong; I love that organic foods are going strong in the market, but farmers can only distribute so many truly organic products before the process itself falls back into bad habits. Specialty stores should be just that: specialty. If we make these stores the norm, then they will not be able to keep up with the demand and we will have more Chiberia-like raids on the shelves.
As we await news of the new neighbors, I will survive on my clearance sale stash of Skippy and Safeway brand pasta and continue to wonder why I still put up with Chicago winters.
Finding Gastropia 