Neighborhood market revival: How the pandemic made family-run shops more essential than ever
The markets kept neighborhoods afloat during the darkest days of the crisis.
From left, Phillip Southammavong, Peck Somphavanh, Alen Southammavong and Ly Southammavong pose together at Ly Food Market in Oak Cliff on Tuesday, April 6, 2021.(Lola Gomez / Staff Photographer)
11:16 AM on Jun 2, 2021 CDT
Somewhere in the realm between the mom-and-pop restaurant and the chain grocery store exists a community-sustaining life force, a small but mighty cog in the urban economic wheel whose significance has perhaps never been more apparent than it’s been during the COVID-19 pandemic. The neighborhood market, where hot meals, pantry staples and the once-elusive roll of toilet paper can be found, has experienced a pandemic-induced revival of sorts.