Allan Appel Photo
Deyssi Juarez was only “a little scared” as she stocked up on extra meat, bananas, potatoes, and a shoe-box long hunk of queso blanco. No batteries or flashlights needed. “I have [those items] in my house already,” she said
Juarez was one of hundreds of shoppers Monday thronging C‑Town Ferry Street in Fair Haven as shoppers stocked up on staples and more in expectation of the arrival of Winter Storm Juno.
As check-out lines backed halfway down shopping aisles, Juarez waited patiently in the eight-items-or-less line. The atmosphere in the store was polite as if all the shoppers, though hurrying, knew they were about to step into a mini-crisis together, as a community.
Juarez, along with others, turned left, then right, making way for other shoppers with carts, and with little kids in awkward tow, to pass or to get on the lots-more-than-eight items other lines.
Juarez lives with her mom, boyfriend, and eight-month-old baby on Saltonstall Avenue, near James. She said she is an optimist and was only a little worried.
Sunday she had bought two gallons of milk and two dozen eggs along with other items, plenty to last what she expected to be no more than two days of difficulty going out. Her mom and infant are healthy, need no specialized medicines, or have key appointments they might miss.
Her real concern is who will plow the snow so she’ll be able to get in and out of her apartment when the storm clears. Last year she lived with her stalwart cousin who cleared the way, but not this year. “I live on the second floor,” she said of her apartment, which faces the John Martinez School.
Juarez’s back-up basket.
She hopes the cousin will lend his services again. The family does have a car. Juarez said she and her boyfriend plan to keep it off the street and park it either in the space behind their building or in the Martinez School parking lot.
The store appeared also to have been prepared. At 9:45 a.m., the bottom of the five long shelves in the milk refrigerator was completely empty. But 20 minutes later — approximately the time it took for Juarez to check out — the shelf had been restocked with Marcus Dairy’s reduced fat and whole milk, and new customers were approaching to take their gallons.
Within minutes of being emptied, the milk shelf at C-Town was restocked.
“Business is booming,” said Adriano Fernandez, one of the several managers hopping about Monday morning at C‑Town. Although his bailiwick is not the merchandise but managing the cashier area, Fernandez said that the store in expectation of the storm pre-ordered larger quantities than usual of bread and other staples.
After she made purchase, Juarez said she was wondering if she had erred; maybe she should have picked up another dozen eggs.
As she left with her bag of groceries, snow was visibly falling outside the C‑Town windows, and the parking lot was completely filled up.
C-Town is disgusting. It's always dirty and the employees are treated like dirt and they express that by providing really poor, unfriendly service. I'm sure the owners are happy taking advantage of poor communities, though. So, good for them.