By: zarq
nickyskye: " The culture layers in NYC are so wonderfully complex and interesting. I'd love to read a website with good infographics on how the various immigrants chose their professions on arriving...
View ArticleBy: criticalbill
Yeah in (north/east) London nowadays many of the shops that used to be run by south Asians are now run by Turks, just as many of the cafes once run by Italians are now run by Turks, or dingy drinking...
View ArticleBy: nickyskye
Nice post, thanks. I remember returning to NYC in late 1985 after 15 years living abroad and was amazed by the excellent changes in the city after all those years away. On the top of the list of...
View ArticleBy: bardic
"there simply aren't as many Korean immigrants as there were in the 60's, 70's and 80's." True, but South Korean parents still dream of sending their kids to the States for their education, and they...
View ArticleBy: Electric Dragon
A similar trend is at work in the UK (old link but the trend is unlikely to have reversed) - except that instead of Korean, such corner shops were primarily South Asian.
View ArticleBy: Postroad
My mother told me they got out of the grocery biz and opened Kia car lots.
View ArticleBy: qcubed
Without reading the article, I'm pretty sure it's because their kids are now in white-collar office/professional jobs, and they're getting old/uppity and retiring to the suburbs. It's what happened...
View ArticleBy: Afroblanco
I always just assumed their industrious progeny got good grades and went on to promising careers, while the parents retired and sold their bodegas to Indians and Pakistanis who were tired of driving cabs.
View ArticleBy: jfuller
Opportunities for any new wave of immigrants (especially ones whose original country/culture is not English-speaking) are at a premium. If some of them do find a workable economic niche I would expect...
View ArticleBy: three blind mice
The Myth of the Successful Koreatown Grocer suggests that these people are now doing what the are actually qualified for.
View ArticleBy: zarq
Ad hominem: "In the late 80s and early 90s there were boycots against Korean owned stores. " Yep. It's mentioned in two of the articles that after a fight between a Korean grocery manager and a Haitian...
View ArticleBy: Civil_Disobedient
The short version: without affordable living there is no place for the artists and the immigrants.
View ArticleBy: Eideteker
To Pal. Park, NJ. Retired, now that their kids (my former classmates) are through med school.
View ArticleBy: Slap*Happy
I think the issue is that South Korea is no longer sending diaspora to the United States in the same numbers. It's a politically stable economic powerhouse with plenty of entrepreneurial opportunity...
View ArticleBy: Ad hominem
In the late 80s and early 90s there were boycots against Korean owned stores. Here is one article from New York Magazine May 28th 1990 Most of these tiny corner stores (I hesitate to call them bodegas...
View ArticleBy: fixedgear
Many Philly Koreans have moved to places like Cheltenham Twp, Upper Darby PA and Cherry Hill, NJ where they are busily owning and running other small businesses. Restaurants, travel agencies, bakeries,...
View ArticleBy: zarq
A couple of random links found while researching this post: Cooking Korean food with Maangchi: Korean cooking, recipes, videos and blog. (No one has yet turned that site into an FPP. It totally...
View ArticleWe used to get 김치 on the corner....
In the 1960's, 70's and 80's, urban decay and high crime rates caused retail chain supermarkets to flee New York City. (google books link) Korean immigrants filled the gap with corner grocery stores....
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