J’s Market

A survivor from a tougher, uglier, nastier era. This is no plea for sentimentality nor Respect. It simply is what it is. J’s Market is like Rasputin, man, it just refuses to die!!!
This is one of those impersonal little marts with its over-​priced, off-​brand products. The owner/​operator will eye you with suspicion probably the first 50 times you peruse the aisles, maybe more. Theirs is a cynicism, a wariness borne of real life experience. Maybe they’re from some other even bigger, darker, uglier ‘hood in Detroit, or Chi-​town, etc, or far that matter, maybe it was Saigon, or Beirut, or Crapistan. I don’t think anyone who’s ever worked any shifts at this little mart would even try to argue that they’re not STILL in a hood that is pretty substantially G-​H-​E-​T-​T-​O to this day, and not nearly enough ‘fabulous’ playfully or ironically tagged onto the end of it.
Since boyhood, experience has taught me to favor 7 – 11’s first for my refreshment fix, Circle K’s second (which are few and far in between in P-​town), Plaid Pantry’s a distant third, and then any independent marts after that, w/​the occasional stand-​alone exception to the rule (like Shamrock, down on Fessenden, which was razed to the ground, I was very sorry to see). Interstate Ave, even with the ongoing gentrification project and lengthy turn in the «Juvenation Machine», has a conspicuous lack of 7−11s. Or Circle K’s, or even Plaids – although there are a couple very scuzzy Plaids not far off, like the ones on Albina, and another on Killingsworth. Safeway couldn’t even hang in this part of town, and fled with their tail between their legs — — - The New Seasons there on Interstate is the site of the long-​abandoned Safeway. We’ll see how New Seasons fares… maybe the owners/​mgt. could consult the guys at J’s market for pointers specific to their target «market»…