Koreans Are Leaving The Greengrocer Business

(via la chance's flickr).

Where have all the Korean grocers gone? Once New York was litered with 24-hour Korean-owned greengrocers, especially in poorer neighborhoods, but now they seem to quickly be a thing of the past. Enter the recent winter issue of City Journal, which has a lengthy look at where they've gone. The results are both interesting and not that surprising. The short answer? The American Dream.

First off, the gentrification of the city over the past twenty years brought with it fancier stores and chains which have displaced some of the greengrocers. But at the same time Korean immigrants have, in a single generation, simply jumped up the economic ladder. According to one study on immigrant assimilation, Koreans are now economically indistinguishable from native-born Americans: "The children of Korean immigrants aren’t manning cash registers late at night; they’re in lines of work that pay more and that their parents see as higher-status."

Meanwhile, the latest rounds of Korean immigrants have moved on from opening groceries to the more lucrative world of spots like nail salons: "like grocery stores, they require little capital to start, but they cater to a more upscale clientele than the groceries do and aren’t expected to stay open around the clock."

And, of course, some Koreans still own groceries, just now many of them have been able to parlay their success into their own grocery chains.

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By Garth Johnston in Food on January 22, 2011 12:24 PM

Comments [rss]

whitecastlerock

I'm surprised it took this long...

http://ditmasparkblog.com/neig...

rasclot

My Korean friends were all drunk and smoked, yet they managed to get to church on Sundays.

Just Me

I'm gonna miss overpriced buffet food in plastic containers.
:(

Rocknrope

The children of Korean immigrants aren't manning the cash registers late at night because Korean parents are like Chinese Tiger Mothers, except also incorporating a nice dose of beatings if their kids don't get A's and go on to be doctors, lawyers, or work in finance.

Andrew

I remember before the 24 hour Korean grocery thing happened started happening (around 1982-83, in Manhattan anyway), you had to go find a Smilers (there were 6 or 7 in Manhattan) if you wanted to buy a 6 pack after midnight. There might have been a few places that stayed open until 2 am (Goalie Delicatessen on 3rd Ave & 22nd St comes to mind), but you really didn't have a lot of options, except to wait until morning.