I went to the Centre Street on February 23rd. This field trip was not related so much with my research topic. The only employee, Ms. Ginger told us a lot of things about small businesses in Jamaica Plain. There are many small shops in Centre St. and Jamaica Plain area, and she said most of them have only 4-5 employees. Most of the employees are from the local JP area, and things and materials come from the neighborhood for local production for local consumption. Therefore, I found out that the various stores in the vicinity cooperate with each other and support each other in running each store. In addition, the local production for local consumption, there were also stores that sold fair trade products, organic products, and other eco-friendly products. The minimum wage is high in these areas and the prices are also high, so maintaining the stores is harder than I thought. In order to maintain their stores, they have to sell a lot of different things or materials. The stores are also trying to be eco-friendly by separating garbage, recycling, and composting food waste. And they have a community refrigerator. That is for poor people who don’t have enough foods, and people who can afford to share foods will donate food and other things to the fridge. There are no big supermarkets near here, but I felt that this town of small stores affects a very important role for the local people.
