May 2017 by Madelyn Clare Powell
The owner is taking advantage of folks in the neighborhood. This store is down one and up another steep hill from the 2 public housing apartment complexes close by. How do I know the owner is price gouging? He said so! I wanted (needed!) a gallon of drinking water, and a pack of American Spirit cigs- the 2nd or 3rd time I stopped in to check them out, and see if they'd gotten any stock on their shelves. But- they didn't have any gallons of water in stock, no two-fer on gatorade, & the coffee was so old it had evaporated, leaving a filthy ring around the pot, as it sat burning. Even their faux latte machine with flavored options was out of order. I decided to go to Dollar General and get drinking water, cat food, and gatorade, but they don't carry American Spirit. Not wanting to leave without buying anything, I decided to get a pack, though I usually buy cartons, from Racetrac. They wanted almost 7.00 for a pack, before taxes, something close to 7.50 total! I said, "whoa, I can't pay that much, but will be back soon, the store sure is coming along", because I felt bad for not being able to afford anything in there! The guy (who is huge- very tall) came out from behind the counter and cashier, asked me what my problem was, and said that I had wasted the cashier's time, coming in and acting like I was going to buy something. I said I couldn't spend that, for cigarettes and that the other marathon, near my house, had 3 pack deals, with a lighter, that had held me over between cartons before. He got LOUD, and very defensive. He told me he had done his market research, and that people in 'this' neighborhood were being charged that for a single pack, and used to paying it. That really ticked me off. So I remarked that just because you could take advantage of people without cars didn't mean you should. He went off, and said that McCane (a local nicstick distributor) wouldn't give him an account, because he didn't sell enough cigarettes. And that he bought his at Sams, which isn't an uncommon practice- many stores do it. I told him that he would sell all the cigarettes he needed to, if he sold them at cost for a few months, and beat out his competition. I mentioned that the previous owners were delightful, and always made a 'special price' for their regular customers, which THEY had! By this time a lovely young lady had come in, gone to the cooler & register with a soda, but she stopped, and was listening. He said that he had done 'these people' a favor, putting his store there even though it was a dangerous location. That he had to cover what it cost him every time he was broken into, and his cigarettes stolen. He said not everyone had a car, and since I could go to the other marathon, I should. I was just horrified, and embarrassed for him because 'these people' is code for people with darker skin than either of us have, and the lady listening happened to be black. As are many neighborhood residents. She put her arm around me, said, ' c'mon girl', got between us, and held the door for me. I was pretty shaken, so when I realized she was on foot as I pulled out, I thanked her again, and offered her a lift. She accepted, and we chatted briefly about word needing to get out about what he really thought about black folks and poor people, and she agreed. I have meant to write about this for a while, I just drove by there on my way back from Racetrac, and saw he was charging more for gas than any other station I had passed by on my way to and from there. I am pretty sure word has gotten out about him, I hardly ever see anyone there- but I am still creeped out by his obvious contempt for poor people, and hope that the high gas price keeps people who travel that busy corridor and might stop by from doing so. I'm thrilled that my friends and former neighbors have 2 different franchises of dollar stores within walking distance now, as well as a HUGE community garden and busy farmers market. That wasn&#
