Space as a Community: The Super “G” Mart

The other day I had to stop and pick up some milk on my way home from work. I was in an unfamiliar part of Charlotte but I knew there was a grocery store on Independence Boulevard called The Super “G” Mart. I stopped into this store on November 28th, 2012 and was amazed at what I saw and experienced.

The “A” on the map identifies where the Super “G” Mart is located.

The Super “G” Mart is an international grocery store off Independence Boulevard in East Charlotte. This grocery store serves the Latin American and Asian population of Charlotte. This store also serves as a third place for many members of these communities.

The Super “G” Mart is an International grocery store that serves the Latin American and Asian population of Charlotte

This grocery store is distinctively set up in two separate arenas, when entering the store the left side of the store is Latin American imported goods, including spices and prepared meals. The right side of the grocery store is stocked with Asian foods, including noodles, fish, and dumplings. The Super “G” Mart is stocked with items one would not find at a traditional grocery store like Harris Teeter or Food Lion.

What struck me most about this space is that the Super “G” Mart is being used as a great third place according to Oldenburg. The grocery store individually leases spaces on the perimeter of the store which are being used by businesses to sell services and transform the space into a village.

This is an example of one of the many shops that is in the Super “G” Mart

These shoppes range from a manicure / pedicure boutiques where I noticed women conversing in a native language, a post office, restaurant, and stores which sell imported  items from Latin America and Asia. The one I found most interesting was a space where a couple was selling Japanese electronics and appliances including the high tech toilets that members of the Japanese society covet.

This is an example of a store selling hi-tech Japanese toilets in The Super “G” Mart

When walking the isles and observing these spaces in The Super “G” Mart I noticed that people were talking to one another as is they are friends. The characteristics of the third place provide an escape from the home and work spaces, and this space identifies a place in which a different culture uses a space to escape (Oldenburg, 21).

The Super “G” Mart as a third place is being used as a leveler. Economically, I noticed many different status groups convening in this space, and they talked to one another as equals. As I walked the aisles checking out the goods and observing the people in the space I was approached on multiple occasions. Many times it was a store clerk asking if I needed help, but on several occasions I was approached by patrons of the store just to say a simple “hello” inviting me to talk to them. I believe they recognized me as someone not familiar with the space of The Super “G” Mart, and are trying to help me assimilate with the culture of this space.

This “help yourself” bucket of live blue crabs in the “Asian” section of The Super “G” Mart is an example of something you wouldn’t come across in a traditional grocery store.

In Oldenburg’s “The Great Good Place” he identifies that conversation is the main activity of a third place, and clearly, patrons of The Super “G” Mart tried to engage in conversation with me (Oldenburg, 26-27).

The Super “G” Mart is a delightful place to see another side of Charlotte and the cities culture. This space is available for grocery shopping, it is also a place available “to escape the pressures and frustrations of the day…amid good company” (Oldenburg, 32) which is a powerful resource for any community.

A Third Place: Sports Page Food & Spirits

With Americans increasingly working longer hours there is a recommendation for a third place within an individuals second place (work setting). For the crew of CW46 that place is Sports Page Food & Spirits near Denver, NC. This quaint restaurant and pub serves a meeting place for coworkers to grab lunch on their break or enjoy a few cold beverages after work.

Sports Page Food & Spirits serves as a great third place because it is closely associated with Oldenburg’s characters of a third place let’s investigate further…

Sports Page Food & Spirits (A) is located in Denver, NC

Oldenburg states that for a third place to be great it must closely adhere to the following characteristics…

1. Be an escape from home and work.

2. Be on neutral ground.

3. Promote conversation as the main activity.

4. Have regulars.

5. Keep a playful low profile.

6.Be a home away from home.

7. As a leveler.

(Oldenburg, 21-41).

Sports Page Food & Spirits does this for the sales force of CW46, for instance we use this place as an escape from work. Many times during a hard morning of work members of the sales team will e-mail one another and ask if anyone is interested in grabbing lunch. Typically when another party agrees to lunch they also agree to hear grievances about their day and act as a therapist of sorts. Typically, both parties find an agreeable work topic to discuss and they engage in conversation. If there are not work grievances to discuss, conversation still flows organically but it is typically small talk about family, sports, friends, etc.

Sports Page signage as you enter the establishment.

Sports Page Food & Spirits is on neutral ground for CW46 employees to use as a third place. Meaning, the proximity of the restaurant to the office is ideal, a short 5 minute drive at worst. This establishment can be identified as a neutral space because it is not near any employee home space (first place), and no CW46 employee has a stake in the success or failure of the business.

As discussed earlier Sports Page Food & Spirits promotes conversation as the main activity. Outside of our circle of CW46 coworkers, engagement with other people in the restaurant is frequent and easy to engage in. Sports Page Food & Spirits is a local establishment and many times conversation can be started simply by discussing things going on around the community.

Coworkers engaging in conversation during lunch.

Sports Page Food & Spirits is an establishment built on local regulars. The tavern is designed like a typical neighborhood sports pub, there is nothing special to attract visitors to this establishment if they did not live near it. However this establishment recruits regulars by sponsoring local youth sports leagues and they promote food and beverage discounts for the team after games. This allows Sports Page Food & Spirits to establish a base of regular business and promotes new patrons with word of mouth to new parents and their children playing in youth sports.

This establishment has the distinctive playful low profile of an “Anywhere U.S.A.” tavern. The lighting is dim, popular music is playing on the juke box, multiple televisions are playing different sporting events, and there are opportunities to sit at a bar to engage in conversation with the bartender or sit at a table and engage in a private conversation.

The low profile of Sports Page Food & Spirits

Sports Page Food & Spirits is a home away from home for many of their patrons. Unlike the CW46 sales staff many of the regulars of this establishment live within a “stones throw” of this tavern. I have not engaged the conversation directly with regulars, however, I notice that the same people visit this tavern at the same time daily. Many of these regulars come in to get a quick drink and discuss their day with the bartender, and then leave. This shows that regulars of this tavern associate Sports Page Food & Spirits as their home away from home and use it as such.

Lastly, Sports Page Food & Spirits is a leveler meaning all walks of life frequent the establishment. When I visit this establishment for lunch the customer base is diverse, and this place promotes an all walks of life customer base. A typical observation of the tavern shows regulars sitting at the bar enjoying a beer and conversation with the bartender, and white collar and blue collar co-workers will be sitting at tables discussing issues at work.

With few dining options in this neighborhood, parents frequent this establishment as a place to take the family out to dinner, and they typically sit along side teenagers meeting here for a weekend lunch to socialize with their friends.

Sports Page Food & Spirits embodies Oldenburg’s characteristics of a great third place. This tavern promotes engagement within the community by placing a priority on serving the community. In return this priority promotes a base of local regular cliental who use this space as a way to communicate with neighbors.

The replacement of a third place with a really (really) big first place

According to Oldenburg’s reading The Great Good Place we are in search of a “quest for community”. American’s today are isolating themselves in elaborate suburban homes, typically these suburban lifestyles do not inhibit a sense of community and in turn a reclusive identity is forming with residents of these suburbs.

One can debate that the bigger home an individual owns (their first place), the less they rely on a community place for fulfillment. The example of this home in Waxhaw, North Carolina demonstrates how it and the community around it compensates for the loss of an adequate third place.

Does a big house in the ‘burbs’ fill the void of missing third places?

Waxhaw, North Carolina is an affluent suburb south east of Charlotte. Up until a decade ago, this area was mostly cow pastures and corn fields but the rapid growth of Charlotte as a whole made developing this area desirable by many.

Waxhaw, NC is a S.E. suburb of Charlotte.

While developed suburban neighborhoods have been popping up around this area for years, other communal necessities are slow to follow. Grocery stores and gas stations are typically the first retail developments in this area, and later on chain restaurants, and retail shopping follows.

As I observe homes while driving through Waxhaw, NC each home looks much larger than a home inside the I-485 loop of Charlotte. It’s easy to believe a typical Waxhaw home to have at least 5 bedrooms, large open spaces, a half acre fenced in lot, and great landscaping. The vast home space could(and is) be used as an alternative as a third space.

A pool room invites guests to the home with an opportunity to communicate over a match.

For instance, while in the home pictured above I noticed many areas to invite others to create conversation. This home has an area to play a game of pool, a sitting lounge, and a big backyard patio. These areas are all identifiable characters of a third place, and can aide in escaping the stress involved with daily life.

This formal sitting area promotes conversation with all parties.

Using a really (really) big house as a third place has benefits to people in communities where a third place is not an accessible option, however it lacks being a leveler, meaning “reducing all men to an equality”. Simply stated, using your own home as a third place could not seem equally inviting for every patron entering your property.

The back patio can help to promote the image of a third place in a home.

For instance, at this home, a patron who is not familiar with a formal sitting room might feel intimidated in this space. It is full of expensive furniture, art work, and other decor, it could leave the patron anxious for an escape if they are not accustomed to this type of environment.

This lack of neutral ground is also present with the pool table gaming area. It should be obvious that if someone with a pool table of their own challenges you to a game, they are most likely good at that game. If the challenged opponent is not as familiar with the game, it could limit informal relations among guests. The neutrality of the playing field is compromised by the ownership of the pool table inside of the home.

In conclusion, using a really (really) big home as a third place is a compromise of space. In a bind it can be used, but this should be done sparingly. Public engagement in traditional forms is always recommended and encouraged over using personal space as a third place.