security and running a business in a city

A handful of people have cornered me, Andrew, or one of the employees over the last few weeks and expressed concern about whether the operation of our store is crime-conscious enough for Hyde Park. Given that two businesses on our block (Quick Snacks and Cornell Dollar) have been broken into in the last two weeks, I thought now might be a good time to write a little about our thoughts.

One concern seems to be that we sometimes have female employees working the checkout counter, sometimes (gasp!) even after dark. Several people have suggested that we only schedule men to work after a certain time, or have a man around whenever we have a woman on duty. This is really backwards thinking. It is huge regression in gender equality to assume that women are less suited to deal with something than men, and we are not going to play that game. All of my employees know that they can talk to me or Andrew if they are uncomfortable working at a certain time of day, and we will work something out. This has, in fact, happened — no need to stereotype based on gender.

Another concern seems to be that we are open till 11pm, which is later than most places on the block. This is on purpose. Hyde Park is full of night owls who keep weird hours and are afraid to go out at night because there are no people around. There are no people around because there are no businesses open late. Likewise, because there are no people out late, businesses see no reason to stay open late. It’s a chicken-and-egg problem, and we are eager to push the envelope a little bit. Andrew and I have lived here for over half a decade and are well familiar with the crime patterns in east Hyde Park, and in addition I grew up here and remember Hyde Park of the ’80s — and I have no desire to steer our neighborhood back in that direction by keeping conservative hours and putting metal bars over my windows.

To address a third common concern (one that I shared), we have replaced our cash box with a hefty cash drawer that can lock (the kind that normally sits under a cash register). This also clears up room on the check-out counter for people to set their baskets or items, the lack of which was something which had been bothering me (and some of you) for a while.

On the shelf: Grass Point Farms milk ($3.50 for a half-gallon), fresh cranberries, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, radiccio, mixed nuts in shells, canned pumpkin, Jerusalem artichoke, clementines in boxes, pre-fried tofu, sparkling cider, and sweet potatoes on sale for 40 cents a pound. We also have 6-packs of cinnamon rolls for $4. Their frosting has a slight citrus twang that makes me eat them for breakfast regularly. You should, too.