The Commercial
Establishments
The commercial institutions that are present in Culmore have not changed hands since the arrival of the Hispanic immigrants. They were there before the immigrants were there. However, in order to survive, these establishments have had to modify their inventory and human resources management programs to target the needs of the Hispanic population. Those modifications resulted in benefits and drawbacks that the local companies within the community experienced as they tried to cater to the Hispanic customers that visit their stores each day.
Rosita’s Restaurant
Rosita's, located on the
other side of Leesburg Pike, is successful because it caters to the community.
The restaurant serves dishes like lomo saltado, tamales, and taquitos. To add
to the atmosphere, a jukebox plays Latino songs, a Latino television channel is
on, and the walls are decorated with Hispanic pictures. Rosita's, one of the
newer establishments, has been in business ten years. The owner had previously
owned a Greek restaurant so he expected to bring fine Greek cooking to the
area, and while Rosita's still offers Greek cuisine, it is clear that
adaptations have been made and Rosita’s has more of a Latino atmosphere.
Culmore Supermarket
Like Rosita’s, the
Culmore Supermarket cannot attract clients from 20 miles away. The supermarket
came before the community did, and the owner is Asian. When the immigrants
arrived, the owner begin changing his inventory and staff to match the needs of
the community. Additionally, a lunch stand in the supermarket serves Central
American food. He also employs mostly Hispanics because "they communicate
well and feel comfortable" (Interview 2002). Also, he added a lunch stand
in the supermarket that serves Central American food.
Rite Aide Drug Store
Another business within
the Culmore area that provides items base on the needs and wants of the large
Hispanic population, is the local Rite Aide drug store. Even though a national chain like Rite Aid
operates the same regardless of local location, the Culmore franchise has
displayed some degree of adaptation to the community. The manager of the Rite
Aid pointed out some differences between this Rite Aid and the other ones in
the region he has worked at. The major difference is that the majority of their
customers are Hispanics. Conversely,
the primary consequence of the market change is that the store has capitalized
on the local population by selling items such as Spanish language magazines,
newspapers published in Spanish, beer, and nachos.
7-Eleven Convenience Store
Within a few yards away, 7-Eleven, located on Glen Carlyn Drive also has experience a major change in the type of customers that visits the store. The assistant manager at the store, who was working there for 12 years, gave us some helpful information. He first pointed out that the customers visiting the store use to be composed of 50% whites. However, things changed and the number of Hispanic customers rapidly grew while the number of white customers decreased to about 0.5%. The assistant manager then went on to state that: "the white customers, as well as some other customers besides the Hispanics, do not want to come here anymore. Whites are intimidated by all the Hispanic people line up in front of the store (Personal interview. 6 Mar. 2002).”
Nevertheless, even though many outside visitors are intimidated by the Hispanic groups outside of the 7-Eleven, the assistant manager and the rest of the staff are not. Instead, they are able to communicate with the Hispanic customers and maintain a great relationship. The assistant manager went on to explain that even though they are losing past customers, they are not losing money. The store was able to maintain a steady growth in revenue by compensating for a lack of sales through a slight inflation. They also increased the stock of certain items that sell well such as soup, nachos, and beer. Therefore, like the other commercial establishments in Culmore, the managers of the 7-11 sees no reason to be pessimistic about the changing demographics within the area.