Conant Grocery

I have spent nearly my entire life in Warren and/​or Center Line, and in 30+ years, grocery shopping has always been a choice between either big national chain grocery stores, big boxes, or 24-​hour pharmacies.
Warren is NOT known for indie or boutique foodie/​grocery stores.
Times, they change. Over the last decade, Warren has started to see an influx of non God-​fearing, white Christian ‘merikans. We have new kinds of ‘merikans: brown and yellow, black and red. This is an extremely welcome change and a very exciting thing for those of us who are tired of always being part of the homogeneous, NASCAR-​lovin’, honest workin’, Red Lobster is fancy-​eatin’ Warrenite community.
It’s nice to mix things up now and then, right?
One thing I never, ever, ever in a million years thought I’d see is a Bangladeshi grocery store within walking distance of my house, that’s for darned sure. I was resigned to the fact that if I wanted strange jars of pickle, cheap bulk bags of Basmati rice, giant bags of turmeric, weird breads, or halal goat meat, I’d be getting in my car and driving at least six miles away to more ethnic parts of town.
I’m happy to report that this is no longer true. Conant Grocery has opened a second branch in a weird strip mall that isn’t even visible from a main road. They can get away with this because their community knows that it’s there and they don’t need street traffic. Their customers are moving in to my neighborhood (which rules, because now my summer evenings smell of curries, garlic, and cooking onions, rather than diesel fumes and Burger King,) and their customers want a walkable place to get their daily food and grocery needs.
It’s not a large place, nor is it extremely well-​stocked, unless you want Desi cooking supplies like large bags of spices, rice, or flour. One thing they seem to specialize in is frozen fish: They have three freezers with dozens of giant (over 4′ long) frozen fish, and will eagerly show you choice selections. They also have goat meat, chicken, and vegetables. In the back, there is a bandsaw, so they will cut anything you’d like to order. I was also told by the proprietor that he could get me anything I wanted (within Halal limits, of course), just to call ahead.
There are sundries such as a few varieties of Kellogg’s cereal, some Asian health and beauty products, and a cooler of the ubiquitous Coca-​cola. There is also a few brands of laundry detergent and other cleaning stuff. It’s not a wide selection, but they have what you need for most normal daily tasks.
I am reviewing this place for a couple of reasons: To put it on the digital map, so to speak, and to be proud that there is something near my home that is NOT a CVS/7−11/Rite-Aid/Walgreen’s/Kroger/Meijer for some of my grocery needs. I hope this is the vanguard of a new kind of Warren for the new decade.