Thursday, February 12, 2009

Hispanic Grocery coming to Mesa

A new Hispanic Grocery is coming to Mesa and bringing 400 jobs. At this point, with the current state of things and the news last week of Bashas closing stores in Mesa, its nice to see anyone looking to expand or do business in Mesa. Would I have preferred that they come into an existing building instead of building their own? Probably, but I don't run their business, so its not my choice. All in all, I think its a pretty good thing.

What does bother me though is the comment section of a story like this. See, in any story about Mesa, you have a few grumpy people complain about the illegals blaming them for everything. Water main break? Illegals using too much water. No nightlife downtown? Illegals scaring people away. And so it goes. However, one mention of Hispanic grocery and its like all decorum goes out the window.

Do these people say the same thing about the Mekong Plaza? No. What about Lee Lee market? No. Ethnic shops are part of this community and, if other cities like New York, LA, and San Francisco are any example, they are a measure of the maturity and diversity of the culture.

All I am saying is just because the store has "Hispanic" in the description is not enough to sic Sheriff Joe on them.

1 comment:

Sarah said...

Very unfortunate indeed that any sort of story like this brings out the Hispanic bashers, but I for one will be quite glad to see any more commerce in Mesa.

Looks like they're also opening a Hispanic grocery at the old Albertsons at Main & Dobson. That shell has been empty for 2 1/2 years and I will be thrilled to see more life in it too.