June 2008

Convenience is a family affair at the Amora
7-Eleven

Amora family members Armando Jr, Sonia, Karen and Armando own and operate a local 7-Eleven, with help from Mr Sam and Lem Lem.
Photo by Jessica Hardy.

by Elizabeth Brinkama

Stop the presses! Write an angry letter to the editor! What is a profile of 7-Eleven doing in the pages of the Takoma Voice, in the Biz Buzz column no less? After all, isn’t it the mission of this column to feature local, independent businesses? To extol the virtues of buying local whenever possible? To suggest that it is, in fact, a moral imperative to spend your dollars where they are the most effective, i.e. your own community? How then does one begin to justify giving over premium column inches to a national chain? Actually, it’s done without a second thought.

Not all 7-Eleven stores are owned by a major corporation with headquarters in a city that is not your own. In fact, most are franchises, businesses that follow a pre-conceived business plan, yet are fully owned and operated by a member of the community they serve. Thus, the 7-Eleven near the Takoma Metro Station is as much a “mom and pop” business as your favorite neighborhood boutiques, restaurants, dry cleaners and a considerable number of other businesses in the greater Takoma Park and Takoma, DC area.

Armando Amora and his family have been a part of this community through their store for over 11 years. Wife Sonia, daughter Karen, and son Armando, Jr. have become a mainstay to the many who commute daily via Metro or still have the wherewithal to burn the midnight oil. Yet time and again I hear people bemoaning the loss of the corner store where one could get all types of snacks, sundries, and necessities.

When I was growing up, once a year we would visit my grandparents in North Cornwall, Connecticut where we would make an almost daily trip to Yutzler’s Dry Goods store. It was owned by three brothers – Carl, Fred, and Dutch – who took great pleasure in pulling my pigtails and announcing in a booming voice that the girls (my sister and I) from CAL-IF-OR-NEYE-A had come to visit. It had everything you could possibly need or want, from supper fixings to toys and candy.

Well, that type of corner store still exists. It’s even on an actual corner. It may look a little different than the Yutzler’s of my childhood – no hardwood floors or hair-pulling - but the overall vibe is surprisingly similar. Along with the somewhat eclectic range of goods, you will find everything from diapers for a panicked midnight run to the emergency pint of Vanilla Swiss Almond (and yes, it is indeed an emergency!) What is most striking in their similarities are the people.

While, to the best of my knowledge, no pigtails have been pulled by the Amora’s, that same familiarity with customers is very evident. Sean Patrick Sullivan, making his weekly morning trip for a carton of Winston’s, says that while there are other places he could go to purchase his particular vice, it’s because “the girls know you, they always have a smile on their faces, they take the time to chat instead of herding you through like cattle and often know what you want before you have even asked” that he continues to patronize this particular corner store. They are a part of his community.

Carl, Fred and Dutch may be long gone but the concept of the neighborhood corner store is still alive and well…. and right on your way to work. It’s just called 7-Eleven.

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