Well, it's becoming clear(er) that some residents aren't interested in having a big 7-Eleven on the corner of Avenue A and East 11th Street.
We received the following missive yesterday:
Attached is an image of stickers (20,000) that just came in and will be distributed throughout the East Village as part of a sticker campaign for when the 7-11 on Avenue A opens up. Basically people will be constantly stickering the door of 7-11 with these ... delicately placed next to the usual MasterCard Accepted stickers by the handle of the door entrance. The idea is to a) constantly remind consumers to turn around and shop elsewhere before going in and also to b) be a nuisance to the 7-11 store itself...
The email was signed,
@PoliticoNympho
Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] More from the anti-7-Eleven front on Avenue A and East 11th Street
7-Eleven alert: Are 2 chain stores replacing Bar on A and Angels & Kings?
First sign of the incoming 7-Eleven on Avenue A
If the only way you can be heard is by defacing someone else's property, you have nothing relevant to say.
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous AM,
DeleteBullCrap! 7-11 is defacing the neighborhood!
While I am no fan of the current trend of chains invading the area we all need to remember that the 7-11 is not a corporate store these are franchises so you're attacking a small business owner that's put his/her money, time, and effort into starting a business. Perhaps not the business you would choose, but still this is someone's livelihood people are trying to destroy.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous 9;08: Tell that to Banksy or the residents of West Berlin or Taki 183 or Jean Michel Basquiat.
ReplyDeleteThese stickers may be less-than elegant in their appearance but they share in the legacy of political graffiti - they are indeed relevant.
Probably the same type of people who protested the invention of the wheel ...
ReplyDeleteI'm no fan of 7-11, but this is how the world works. Change happens. Deal with it.
This is absolutely necessary. It should have started at least two decades ago.
ReplyDeleteI'm not crazy about the sticker idea either. Sidewalk chalk is one thing. Then I remember that Ben Shaoul owns this building, and I recall the stories I hear about his now-former tenants in the EV being treated so poorly during buy outs and assorted gut renovations.
ReplyDeleteSo sticker away!
I support the sticker campaign... though I wouldn't feel comfortable putting them up myself. It's possible that I don't understand how these franchises work, but I feel like I don't have much sympathy for anyone with enough cash to open a 7-11 in the EV. Could any of us afford to do that?
ReplyDeleteWith few exceptions, most of the recently remodeled or new "local" delis in the neighborhood have as much charm as a 7-11 does.
ReplyDelete(Still won't shop at a 7-11, tho.)
There is no need to fear. I'm going to have 7-Eleven out of business within a year. Depinto: I'm going to embarrass you and everyone at corporate for choosing such a silly location. You can't compete with me , Westville, or Poppy's. We're going to beat you down from every angle. Andiamo!
ReplyDeleteSlacktivism at it's best. #yawn
ReplyDeleteLove how easy it is for some folks above to comment with their snarky attitudes and their provincial bs. Time to fight the ugly chain by any means necessary and the stickers seem to be one of a multitude of great ways to not remain 'sheeple'.
ReplyDeleteAs deplorable it is that 7-Eleven is invading NYC, why single them out as the arbiters of evil? I've been avoiding McDonald's, Domino's, Subway, Pinkberry, etc., for years. Where are the stickers for them? Why is 7-Eleven the one to stop? The others have compromised neighborhoods and driven out local mom & pop shops without any protest. What's up with that?
ReplyDeleteI think this is specific to Avenue A .
ReplyDeleteAs a lawyer in this neighborhood, I cannot encourage such behavior. Instead, I believe there needs to be organized boycotts of an establishment. The ones you all seem to hate most will be the ones that patron their recognized establishment. Maybe if someone can infiltrate this "white middle class'" populos from the inside (like a Wayans movie, but funnier) and persuade them of the historical and cultural relevence of EV and ABC than we can have some good ole fashion American, fist to the sky, stick it to the man, boycottin'.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I hate 7-Eleven, my concern is that the low paid workers will be the ones forced to constantly scrub the stickers off. Unfortunately, they're the ones who will suffer, not the chain itself. The NYU students couldn't care less where they shop, so long as it's "convenient" for them and will patronize 7-Eleven because it reminds them of their flyover states. I feel bad for the great small bodegas on the other side of the street.
ReplyDeleteKudos BagelGuy! Support you 100%!
ReplyDeleteI think an unofficial boycott is already in place among people who care about this sort of thing. It doesn't seem to have affected anything. Maybe an awareness campaign geared at the 18-30 set would get some results, but I'm not optimistic.
ReplyDeleteRuining someones property is not something I personally can go along with.
ReplyDeleteAfter countless visits to the customary EV watering holes (Mona's, Sophie's, Joe's/Josie's), I hate to break it to you guys, but, in large part (and disproportionately to the community), we are the "white middle class" populos.
ReplyDeleteYou're all going to go buy alcohol and subsidize the state and its economic terrorism anyway, so what does it matter?
ReplyDeleteThe inclusion of a 7-11 in the neighborhood is nothing more than the intentional corporate white-washing of Mom & Pop shops. The message is loud and clear. The dudes, bros and OMG girls don't want to shop in bodegas because the bodegas are too ethnic for them. The 7-11 makes them feel safe. They will no longer have to live in fear of hearing Spanish being spoke while they buy their Pepsi, Doritos and Marlboro Lights. They'll never have to encounter another terrifying bodega cat at their feet or see packages of dried chili peppers hung on the wall - probably for Voodoo! OMG! - as they buy a six pack of Bud Light. No, not in 7-11! They wear uniforms in 7-11! They wear name tags! And the florescent lights are so bright in 7-11, everyone looks just about white.
ReplyDeleteWhere do I get my stickers?
its the old battle, standardization versus customization and personal service. McDonalds learnt that the hard way, make the ambiance a little more homely, ditch the flourescent lites and create some "charm" albeit thru a corporate manual. Homemade Grandma's Pizza or soup is a long way off, but its a start. The money has a way of following the market and this market is growing. Viz Brand Management gurus are onto this. See LVMH and brand identity.
ReplyDeleteThere is no excuse for vandalism - and this sad campaign highlights a problem while providing ZERO solutions.
ReplyDeleteTo the anonymous person who keeps repeating his/her vandalism mantra: If I have to tolerate wheat pasted posters everywhere telling me to buy Lana Del Rey albums, you can tolerate a few anti 7-11 stickers. Chances are your face will be buried in your iPhone anyway so...
ReplyDeleteI think its fine if the stickers go everywhere except the 7-11 itself, that's borderline vandalism and really uncool on a basic human level because some poor guy will be stuck with cleaning it up. Besides I don't think the stickers need to be seen on the 7-11 door itself. Paste them everywhere else I mean, this vile city is absolutely plastered with stickers and random scribbles, most of which are infantile self-serving apocryphal meaningless nonsense (and by that I mean to include the paid advertising) anyways.
ReplyDeleteSorry but stickering up 7-11s is just bullshit. This is happening because we are allowing it to happen. You want to do something about how chain stores are killing NYC neighborhoods? Boycotts are a good way to begin. Starting an ant-chain grassroots effort and tormenting your Community Board, city council person, the mayor's office, etc about "doing something" is even better.
ReplyDeleteAs far as "doing something" there's no need to reinvent the wheel. san Fran has the blueprint already. Just google "chain stores San Fransisco" if you're interested.
For any of the commenters that are sympathizing with 7-Eleven, and the 'vandalism is wrong' crowd, you might want to read the New York magazine article from May 6th "The Big Gulp - How 7-Eleven plans to put the bodega out of business", by Willy Staley. That 'Business Conversion Program' they are in the midst of sounds lovely, doesn't it?
ReplyDelete7-Eleven has declared war on the bodegas. None of us should have sympathy for anything that they might have to deal with.
I worked at a fast-food restaurant once. I'd much rather scrape stickers off a door than mop up the diarrhea, vomit and other bodily fluids splattered on the walls and floors of the bathrooms.
ReplyDeleteThis stickers are awesome. We all need to be visable and verbal in NYC 2013. The landlords, chains, developers & crooked politicias are NOT f*cking around, they rzae the laws just like our city, as needed, and we shouldn't either. We are all responsible for the choices we make for survival. Sorry but it's total bs to say "oh the guys's just trying to make a living give him a break." FAIL. and give me a break with the "poor kids will have to scrub the stickers off." have you no sense of priorities??? are you that brainwashed and ruled by fear that you are speaking out against STICKERS? the kneejerk reactions here are just absurd. If anyone is "ruining property" here, it's clearly BEN SHAOUL AND 7-11. And it's not just property they're ruining, it's quality of life, affordability for small business owners, culture, diversity, class and the very aesthetics of Avenue A!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm all for the boycott, the stickers and anything else to undermine 7-Eleven's business assumptions and viability in the East Village (and NYC for that matter). And while I am sentimental, my motivation is primarily that I really appreciate the variety of products offered by bodegas. Ethnic products, health/organic/vegan products, etc. etc. These businesses cater to the people in their neighborhoods; 7-Eleven is a conduit for the biggest of big brands that appeal to the broadest of markets. No thanks. Many of us choose to live in an interesting neighborhood, and bodegas feed the lifeblood of our daily lives. If I want to limit my choices to Frito-Lay and Anheuser Busch products, I can live in the burbs for a fraction of the price.
ReplyDeletemeh. any other area I'd say this is dumb but it sort of adds to the charm of the EV. yawn.
ReplyDeletePlease don't use these stickers. Hate or love 7-Eleven, the truth is that the only person affected by them is the franchisee that decided to open a 7-Eleven rather than a bodega. That person is just trying to make a living and 7-Eleven has probably already collected its fee.
ReplyDeleteAnd honestly, I don't love 7-Eleven, but if you read that NY Mag story referenced above, it simply explains that people choose to opne a 7-Eleven because it offers a better path towards profitability. All that person wants is to be his or her own boss and make a decent living.
Even if that person decided to do so without the hideous 7-Eleven signage, it would likely only be a minor improvement. Most of the bodegas opening these days in the neighborhood (see Tompkins Finest at East 10th and A, or any of the other recent ones covered on this blog) are flourescent and generic, too.
I like the sticker campaign idea and I see the effectiveness of putting it on the door for customers to see before they go inside; however, it will make it more difficult for the sticker maker because people will see this as too directed. The truth is that there are so many 7-11s already that boycotting one in particular won't take them down. I don't expect the Ave. A store to perform as well as, say, the one on 23rd street for instance. I also would expect less of a push back from that area because there are plenty of chain stores there. The thing is clear: 7-11 has become a point of contention for most of us who live here in the EV because its success will doubtlessly usher in a slew of other chain stores all eager to sink their teeth into the EV market and forever change the neighborhood. I'm with the Bagel Guy. If there is enough of a push back here on Ave. A and too few receipts, they will eventually go elsewhere. You won't stop 7-11, but you WILL make them rethink their presence on Avenue A. WE CAN DO THIS. Now, where can I get some stickers? (Not that I don't have some plans of my own.) Also, kudos to everyone who is getting off their duffs to call attention to this particular atrocity.
ReplyDeleteFrom that NEw York magazine article called "How 7-11 Plans to Put the Bodega out of Business."
ReplyDelete<>>
7-11 is ugly. Those stickers are ugly. So are the chalk protests, markers, spray paint. Face it, 7-11 is going in and there's not much more you can do but shop elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteAs much as the 7-11 sucks I'm even more concerned to whats going to be built on the corner across the street on the site of the former flea market space. It's zoned for a huge highrise. Start showing concern for that since it hasn't been built yet and maybe just maybe the neighborhood community can help do something about the monstrosity that's going to be built there.
Why are people assuming stickers are the only facet in this campaign?
ReplyDelete"Change happens. Deal with it."
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't get more apathetic than that. Sure, let's just roll over and let developers do what ever they want to this neighborhood.
Thanks to everyone who is actually getting up and *doing* something to protest this. Saying/doing nothing will accomplish just that.
My prediction is that, apart from those who paid for the stickers to be printed, no one else will help them.
ReplyDeleteThis rift is between small capital and big capital, and most of the arguments here are just sentimental. IWorkers fare better in the larger stores. Small companies pay less, are less likely to offer health, pension, or child-care benefits, and are often more dangerous to workers. Small business owners are at the forefront of opposition to increases in the minimum wage and increased work safety regulations.
Gentrification is a global phenomenon, not a lifestyle choice. Stickers are useless. They're worse than useless, because they drain time and effort away from real efforts.
re: Cosmo. I believe what the OP was saying is that they are not bothered by the 7-11. There are much bigger concerns in our community, like what will happen to that space when 7-11 moves out. It will likely become or try to become a very large bar/club.
ReplyDeleteIs this the spot SPECTRA used to be?
ReplyDeleteRE: Anon 2:26. Oh no ! Not the multi-faceted approach. You mean they'll be stickers AND chalk ? I'm sure that will bring them to their knees.
ReplyDeleteWorkers fare better in the larger stores? Really? Like the Walmart employees on welfare?
ReplyDeleteHi- I hate to inject a dose of reality here but Im willing to guess most of the posters have never run a small business and dont understand how bodegas work. Heres some info- lots of bodegas dont pay the full tax they owe the city- they run all cash businesses- hire illegals and pay below minimum wage, offer no benefits and don't respect labor laws. Many also sell crack pipes, fake IDs, drugs etc. They also sell overpriced stale merchandise. Also-can you stop with the racist antiwhite comments? As a 42yr old native of NYC- Im tired of these comments. Finally, if you moved here during the 90s and youre white heres a news flash- YOU ARE THE F'ING PROBLEM- If you complain about crime and grafitti and bums- then you wouldnt have liked this town when it was real. Go home and watch GIRLS and shut the F up.
ReplyDeleteAnd where exactly are these stickers going to get stuck? probably all over other people's homes and business fronts. As a small business owner I support the cause but not so sure about how this message will be made.
ReplyDeleteNote that this post gets 44 comments while the previous post about building a grassroots movement to pressure elected officials to change zoning regulations to address the chain store blight that's choking our neighborhoods gets all of 5. I guess that's to be expected. Doing bullshit like defacing a chain store with stickers is easy, and maybe makes the sticker-er feel like (s)he's done something, but that something ultimately accomplishes not much, if anything productive. Actually, the stickers could realistically wind up being counter-productive when said stickering is viewed negatively by the cops, community boards, elected officials, and (perhaps) by the general public.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, what the the 11th Street resistance ( http://evgrieve.com/2013/01/meanwhile-theres-no-7-eleven-meeting.html )is doing requires real commitment and effort, but that hard work could eventually have an actual impact on reducing, or even eliminating, the blight of chain stores that are choking all our NYC neighborhoods.
i love how all of these comments try to make the argument that bodegas on avenue a/b are this shangri-la paradise. no, a lot of them smell like shit, sell expired food, operate on cash only to avoid taxes, and a myriad of other problems.
ReplyDeletenot that i love 7-11 - fuck them. but it's easy for westville, tompkins square bagels, etc. to fight because they've got great products that people love to support. these bodegas don't, and thus i don't feel any sympathy if they get run out of business.
I agree with Peter. It's a bit off-topic, but if you live in the neighborhood and you're posting on a blog in the afternoon on a weekday, it's quite likely that you, at some point, have been part of the problem. We all have. I would bet that those sounding off on here are not some sort of vestigial lower east side nuyorican radicals from the 70's. Or old Polish people. Or asian people in the Riis houses. It is likely that you moved here just like everyone else in the past 25 years who drove rents up, and that you displaced someone or something, however unintentional it may have been, and however pure your intentions were/are. The city changes all the time. Stickers won't help that. White flight might help, but I don't think any of us are going anywhere.
ReplyDeleteI missed the comment where anyone compared a bodega to Shangri-La. And it is possible that community orientated people have moved to east village in the past 25 years. People who moved here to be part if the fabric of the community, not destroy it.
ReplyDeleteKen I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's because people are talking about the effectiveness of the stickers which is what this post is about.
ReplyDeletewe're talking about a neighborhood where weekly soup lines for illegal immigrants and bums are considered charming yet bumper stickers are somehow inimical? Excuse me while I laugh.
ReplyDelete""Change happens. Deal with it."
ReplyDeleteThis sort of change doesn't just happen. People make change happen. You can either be active or passive in that. Obviously you've chosen quietism and allowing others to make those decisions for you.
- East Villager.
"As a 42yr old native of NYC- Im tired of these comments. Finally, if you moved here during the 90s and youre white heres a news flash- YOU ARE THE F'ING PROBLEM-"
ReplyDeleteSorry, I don't follow this logic. You decry racist antiwhite comments and then immediately follow up a racist antiwhite comment.
- East Villager
Speaking of stickers, why is this city always covered with filthy stickers? It's disgusting. Even Philadelphia, hardly a paragon of lawful behavior, manages to enforce anti-stickering laws.
ReplyDelete- East Villager
Hope to see you all tomorrow night. It may be just pissing in the wind but if everyone who posted on this tread shows up, it could be the start of something. BTW, 20 oz. Doctor Pepper at a bodega, $1.50, at a 7-11, $2.00.
ReplyDeleteGreat to live outside of this scenerio in a place where the only store you'll find is a car wash that closes at 6pm with barely any foot traffic and to be able to voluntary pass through the Disneyland of the East Village and it's ever changing landscape. 7 eleven turns every neighborhood it touches into a luxury ghetto. Of course this post is anonymous.
ReplyDeleteTo the person who said that franchises are owned by a small business person--that is not necessarily true. First of all, 7-11 policy is to build out the stores before they have a franchisee. With that in mind, for all we know, Shaoul will be the owner, and he will certainly make most of the profits on the exorbitant rent. Second, quite often, the owners are investment groups that own multiple franchise locations in their portfolio and have nothing to do with the operation of the stores, it is a profit making investment.
ReplyDeleteNot for 7/11 but get real here, seriously! You're the same types who go to IHOP and think it's ironic or who stand in line like sheep for Artichoke's mediocre pizza or pay $4 for fake designer coffee. It's a done deal people. The leases have been signed, Ben Shaoul will crush you. He's that powerful and evil. Also have lived here for 25 years and some of these "local" delis like Sheen Bros are horrible and overpriced and have been ripping us off for years with a big smile on their face. What about all of these dilettantes and rich kids that open shitty bars and restaurants that could give a shit about the neighborhood and cater to the worst people ever but you have no problem with them or the very expensive, overpriced fast food & breakfasts in the 7/11 vicinity of upper Ave A? Nothing's more annoying than people who've just moved to the East Village and start acting like they're the mayor here and wear it on their sleeve, get real. The landlords are cashing in after taking their lumps for decades when nobody wanted to live here except for people with enough balls to come here. Don't kid yourself, they run things in NYC, landlords, real estate. Manhattan is the most valuable real estate on the planet and their day has come to get richer.
ReplyDeleteThis is about the assassination of a neighborhood's character - a death by dozens of cuts with Shaoul being one of the slicers (remember the Cabrini). Nothing wrong with raising hell and, uhm, sticking it to'm.
ReplyDeleteAll the jobs lol.
ReplyDelete8:06 ... is this your first visit to the site or something?
ReplyDelete@LvV, I totally agree, Ben Shaoul is a job creator. We,the "second-handers" are not worthy to live in his shadow.
ReplyDelete@jdx - may happen. Solidarity (A)
ReplyDeleteI'd prefer WaWa.
ReplyDelete- East Villager
this makes eminent sense to me but perhaps i've been here too long generally and am just grumpy. but i'm game to disrupt.
ReplyDeleteWell, we moved in more than 32 years ago, from "flyover country" -- a term of derision better left out of a discussion about a neighborhood enriched by immigrants. We moved into one of several VACANT apartments in a building owned by a notorious slum lord in this neighborhood then called "Nogo" by our friends because they would not venture East of First Ave. It was a wreck we could afford. We put our kid in public school--and then humiliated him by bringing our Midwest parent activism there too. Our neighbors were other poor artists, writers, musicians and actors--of ALL races--from all over the US and native NYers, mixed together with people from Ukraine, Italy, PR, DR, Poland, Mexico, Ireland, etc. We were the interesting creative people who--after the speed wars, car arsons and crack epidemics finally passed--made the neighborhood "desirable" for the upscale, including NYU students, who drive up rents and demand ever more expensive restaurants and bars everywhere. We used to have a lumber yard, hardware, appliance and dry goods stores, shoe repair shops, fabric shops, tailors, cleaners, butcher, fish monger and more where all these useless, fast turn-over restaurants and bars now sit.
ReplyDeleteBut I will tell you, we are politically and environmentally active and fiercely community minded. We love our working class part of the City and will continue to fight to keep some vestiges of it intact--until we can no longer climb those many steps.
We helped to make this neighborhood. We belong here and we're not going anywhere.
We love you @Anon 10:46!
ReplyDeleteBRAVO!!! I give you a standing ovation well deserved, @Anon 10:46! Your words are spot on and your story is a story of the TRUE East Village I came to know and love - with all its interesting quirks, corners and kooks. I hope to meet you one day and shake your hand. Thank you for posting. Nice
ReplyDeleteI don't think these stickers are going to pass muster with Jimmy Blanco!
ReplyDeleteIt's not because of artists that more people moved here. That's just the artist's inflated sense of self-worth speaking. It was because after years of decline, it became profitable to rehabilitate decrepit/abandoned property. And while the apartments were more expensive than existing housing stock, they were more affordable than what was being rehabilitated in other neighborhoods (e.g., Upper West Side). With the surfeit of money capital today, and no productive investment outlets, speculation of all sorts, including real estate, will continue unabated. Bedford/Stuyvesant is being gentrified these days, and it's not because of artists.
ReplyDeleteAnd to the degree that people care about workers, they should stop glorifying small business owners.
Folks it looks like it's beginning HERE so let's get busy. NO CHAINS! Let's protest the Bowery 7-11, too. Stickers and chalk, Action and talk.
ReplyDelete