Skip to main content
Log in

Corner Store Purchases in a Low-Income Urban Community in NYC

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Community Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We assessed purchases made, motivations for shopping, and frequency of shopping at four New York City corner stores (bodegas). Surveys and purchase inventories (n = 779) were collected from consumers at four bodegas in Bronx, NY. We use Chi square tests to compare types of consumers, items purchased and characteristics of purchases based on how frequently the consumer shops at the specific store and the time of day the purchase was made. Most consumers shopped at the bodega because it was close to their home (52 %). The majority (68 %) reported shopping at the bodega at least once per day. The five most commonly purchased items were sugary beverages, (29.27 %), sugary snacks (22.34 %), coffee, (13.99 %), sandwiches, (13.09 %) and non-baked potato chips (12.2 %). Nearly 60 % of bodega customers reported their purchase to be healthy. Most of the participants shopped at the bodega frequently, valued its convenient location, and purchased unhealthy items. Work is needed to discover ways to encourage healthier choices at these stores.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Larson, N. I., Story, M. T., & Nelson, M. C. (2009). Neighborhood environments: Disparities in access to healthy foods in the U.S. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 36, 74–81.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Gittelsohn, J., Franceschini, M. C. T., Rasooly, I. R., Ries, A. V., Ho, L. S., Pavlovich, W., et al. (2008). Understanding the food environment in a low-income urban setting: Implications for food store interventions. Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition, 2, 33–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Graham, R., Kaufman, L., Novoa, Z., & Karpati, A. (2006). Eating in, eating out, eating well: Access to healthy food in North and Central Brooklyn. New York, NY: New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Gordon, C., Ghai, N., Purciel, M., Talwalkar, A., & Goodman, A. (2007). Eating well in Harlem: How available is healthy food?. New York, NY: New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Bodor, J. N., Rose, D., Farley, T. A., Swalm, C., & Scott, S. K. (2008). Neighbourhood fruit and vegetable availability and consumption: The role of small food stores in an urban environment. Public Health Nutrition, 11, 413–420.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. (2012). Retail audit of sugary drinks in six New York City neighborhoods. Epi Data Brief, 17, 1–2. http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/epi/databrief17.pdf.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Powell, L. M., Auld, M. C., Chaloupka, F. J., O’Malley, P. M., & Johnston, L. D. (2007). Associations between access to food stores and adolescent body mass index. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 33, S301–S307.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Gibson, D. M. (2011). The neighborhood food environment and adult weight status: Estimates from longitudinal data. American Journal of Public Health, 101, 71–78.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Galvez, M. P., Hong, L., Choi, E., Liao, L., Godbold, J., & Brenner, B. (2009). Childhood obesity and neighborhood food-store availability in an inner-city community. Academic Pediatrics, 9, 339–343.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Cavanaugh, E., Mallya, G., Brensinger, C., Tierney, A., & Glanz, K. (2013). Nutrition environments in corner stores in Philadelphia. Preventive Medicine, 56(2), 149–151. doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2012.12.007.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Laska, M. N., Borradaile, K. E., Tester, J., Foster, G. D., & Gittelsohn, J. (2010). Healthy food availability in small urban food stores: A comparison of four US cities. Public Health Nutrition, 13(7), 1031–1035. doi:10.1017/S1368980009992771.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Lucan, S. C., Karpyn, A., & Sherman, S. (2010). Storing empty calories and chronic disease risk: Snack-food products, nutritive content, and manufacturers in Philadelphia corner stores. Journal of Urban Health, 87(3), 394–409. doi:10.1007/s11524-010-9453-5.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Haywood, C., & Farley, T. (unpublished data).

  14. Dannefer, R., Williams, D. A., Baronberg, S., & Silver, L. (2012). Healthy bodegas: Increasing and promoting healthy foods at corner stores in New York City. American Journal of Public Health, 102(10), e27–e31. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2011.300615.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. The Food Trust, The Philadelphia Healthy Corner Store Network, and Get Healthy Philly. Sell Healthy! Guide. thefoodtrust.org 2012. Accessed March 9, 2014 from http://thefoodtrust.org/uploads/media_items/phcsn-sell-healthy-guide.original.pdf

  16. Lent, M. R., Vander Veur, S., Mallya, G., et al. (2014). Corner store purchases made by adults, adolescents and children: Items, nutritional characteristics and amount spent. Public Health Nutrition, 7, 1–7. doi:10.1017/S1368980014001670.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Borradaile, K. E., Sherman, S., Vander Veur, S. S., et al. (2009). Snacking in children: The role of urban corner stores. Pediatrics, 124(5), 1293–1298. doi:10.1542/peds.2009-0964.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Cannuscio, C. C., Tappe, K., Hillier, A., Buttenheim, A., Karpyn, A., & Glanz, K. (2013). Urban food environments and residents’ shopping behaviors. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 45(5), 606–614.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Dannefer, R., MPH, MIA, Sperling, A., MPH, Baronberg, S., MPH, & Abrami, A., MS, RD. (unpublished data, 2009).

  20. Ruff, R. R., Akhund, A., & Adjoian, T. (2015). Small convenience stores and the local food environment: An analysis of resident shopping behavior using multilevel modeling. American Journal of Health Promotion (Epub ahead).

  21. Kaufman, L., & Karpati, A. (2007). Understanding the sociocultural roots of childhood obesity: Food practices among Latino families of Bushwick, Brooklyn. Social Science and Medicine, 64(11), 2177–2188. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2007.02.019.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. O’Malley, K., Gustat, J., Rice, J., & Johnson, C. C. (2013). Feasibility of increasing access to healthy foods in neighborhood corner stores. Journal of Community Health, 38(4), 741–749.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. D’Angelo, H., Suratkar, S., Song, H.-J., Stauffer, E., & Gittelsohn, J. (2011). Access to food source and food source use are associated with healthy and unhealthy food-purchasing behaviours among low-income African-American adults in Baltimore City. Public Health Nutrition, 14(9), 1632–1639. doi:10.1017/S1368980011000498.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Bodor, J. N., Ulmer, V. M., Dunaway, L. F., Farley, T. A., Rose, D., Bodor, J. N., et al. (2008). Neighbourhood fruit and vegetable availability and consumption: The role of small food stores in an urban environment. Public Health Nutrition, 11, 413–420.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Song, H.-J., Gittelsohn, J., Kim, M., Suratkar, S., Sharma, S., & Anliker, J. (2009). A corner store intervention in a low-income urban community is associated with increased availability and sales of some healthy foods. Public Health Nutrition, 12(11), 2060–2067. doi:10.1017/S1368980009005242.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Bloomberg, M. R., & Farley, T. (2010). New York City healthy Bodegas initiative. Retrieved from http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/cdp/healthy-bodegas-rpt2010.pdf.

  27. New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. (n.d). Healthy food list with pictures.

  28. United States Census Bureau. State and County Quickfacts: Bronx County, New York. Retrieved from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/36/36005.html

  29. Obesity in South Bronx: A look across generations. Bronx District Public Health Office. http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/dpho/dpho-bronx-obesity.pdf. Accessed January 24, 2014.

  30. New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. (2014). Describing the food environment in the South Bronx neighborhood of Crotona–Tremont. Epi Data Brief, 44, 1–2. Retrieved from http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/epi/databrief44.pdf.

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Supplement to 1U48DP001904-01).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Brian Elbel.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kiszko, K., Cantor, J., Abrams, C. et al. Corner Store Purchases in a Low-Income Urban Community in NYC. J Community Health 40, 1084–1090 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-015-0033-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-015-0033-1

Keywords

Navigation