Community Markets

I live walking distance from Clintonville Community Market and K&M Market (pictured here) is right around the corner.

I try to frequent these kind of places. I do not ever go to places like a Walmart, even though I could possibly save money. It is my perception that the Walmarts and places like them are turning the world into a strip mall; a geography of nowhere! Every place looks the same wherever you go. Somehow that is supposed to be comforting. But for me it is very disturbing and disorienting to feel such familiarity...everywhere I go.

My parents owned and operated a grocery store/gas station in Perryton Ohio when I was a teenager. The store was a converted schoolhouse. My parents worked hard to stock what their customers needed as we were about 10 miles from the nearest town. We sold gas, groceries, work gloves, tools, lawn mower parts, and later my parents obtained a liquor licence and we sold beer and wine. It took the whole family (8 of us) to run this store efficiently.

It was a good and busy life back then. The store isn't there anymore. That 10 miles to town thing that worked in my parents favor got replaced by the cost effectiveness of the Walmarts and Best Buys...and cheap oil. The gas tanks are probably still buried underground. Someone with vision could resurrect the old Perryton General Store. In a peak oil crisis time stores like my parents might last a bit longer than Walmart, or Kroger. When independent truckers stop making deliveries because they can not afford to fill up we are all going to have to restructure our whole way of life. Support your local community market.