Replacing Hi-Lo!
By:
February 16, 2011
“For Jamaica Plain’s eclectic mix of hipsters, affluent professionals, and working-class Latinos, there has been no starker symbol of transformation in their neighborhood than the one announced yesterday: The tumble-down Latino grocery Hi-Lo Foods will close its doors and reopen as a sparkling new Whole Foods Market.” So we Bostonians read in the Boston Globe, earlier this year.
One of our very first posts, here at HILOBROW, was a paean to the Hi-Lo Foods sign, which we had our friend Scott LaPierre photograph for us [above]. Plus, I was born and raised in Jamaica Plain; and my coeditor, Matthew Battles, lives in JP. So we’ve followed this story of gentrification and de-diversification with great interest.
Yesterday, we read in the Globe that Whole Foods seeks to “assure Jamaica Plain residents concerned about the upscale grocer’s move into the former Hi-Lo Foods building that it intends to be a ‘positive and productive’ member of the neighborhood, by hiring some displaced workers, stocking affordable goods, and donating to community groups.”
Not good enough, dammit! Whole Foods simply isn’t the right fit for Jamaica Plain. It’s too square, too crunchy, and too upscale all at the same time.
Forget Whole Foods. I propose a new plan, one which will give Jamaica Plain’s working-class Latino population the sparkling new (but not upscale) grocery store it wants — while privileging the sensibilities of the hipsters, instead of the affluent professionals. There’s a grocery chain operating supermarkets in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee who should, I propose, be persuaded to open a branch in the old Hi-Lo location.
Without further ado, then, I present the solution to Jamaica Plain’s conundrum:
