An Alternative to Wal-Mart: The Small Corner Grocery

For decades I've shopped regularly at small groceries and stores close by where we lived. It takes a population bassin of about 10,000 to support a commercial street, and we certainly have that within walking distance of Park Avenue du Parc.

But population is even denser on the Plateau where we are now, and the grocery stores that can make a go of it seem to be even smaller. This is one of a half dozen Portuguese groceries within a few blocks of each other. Some of the clients come from farther away, like the folks who visit C. Martins on Villeneuve in the fall to buy flats of grapes for winemaking. Most of the stores deliver in the neighborhoood too,for free or for a small fee. That's because this is not a car-friendly area--we've left the car we don't use very often anyway at the house for the duration--but it's proof that you can get by quite nicely, thank you, in a walkable city.