Bodega Startup Controversy

Overview

Bodega Startup Controversy refers to the discussion surrounding a startup vending machine company called Bodega that will stock items popularly found in corner stores, known as "bodegas" in Los Angeles and New York City. This was perceived negatively online, as people saw the startup as a threat to bodegas and corner stores which are considered urban cultural institutions.

Background

On September 13th, 2017, Bodega was profiled by Fast Company in an article titled "Two Ex-Googlers Want To Make Bodegas And Mom-And-Pop Corner Stores Obsolete."^[1] Bodega was founded by two former Google employees and secured investment from senior executives at companies like Dropbox, Facebook, Twitter, and Google. The profile highlights the potential convenience of the product. For example, the machine will use AI to decide which items to stock based on the community of people who use it. Fast Company also addresses concerns that it will put immigrants out of business. From their piece:

The major downside to this concept–should it take off–is that it would put a lot of mom-and-pop stores out of business. In fact, replacing that beloved institution seems explicit in the very name of McDonald’s venture, a Spanish term synonymous with the tiny stores that dot urban landscapes and are commonly run by people originally from Latin America or Asia. Some might bristle at the idea of a Silicon Valley executive appropriating the term “bodega” for a project that could well put lots of immigrants out of work. (One of my coworkers even referred to it as “Bro-dega” to illustrate the disconnect.)

Developments

The idea that Bodega would kill "mom-and-pop stores" was immediately met with backlash on Twitter. Twitter user @CushKobain^[2] tweeted an image from the film Get Out illustrating how the startup was a tool of gentrification, gaining over 2,100 retweets (shown below, left). In a series of tweets, @darth^[3] pointed out "that many people of color rely on bodegas and mom and pop stores as both owners and customers makes them ripe for Silicon Valley disruption" (shown below, right).

Backlash against Bodega, including Twitter users' responses, was also written by Select All,^[4] Daily Dot,^[5] The Guardian,^[6] and more. Teen Vogue^[7] wrote an article about the startup and included a tweet by Nich Maragos^[8] that stated "the actual 'value add' of Bodega is that scared white people can remove an unwanted minority interaction from their day," which gained over 200 retweets (shown below).

Bodega Response

After the backlash spread through Twitter for the day, Bodega founder Paul McDonald took to Medium^[9] to address the criticisms his startup had faced all day. He denied that he was attempting to put corner stores out of business and called them "fixtures of their neighborhoods for generations." He went on to add "they stock thousands of items, far more than we could ever fit on a few shelves. Their owners know what products to carry and in many cases who buys what."

Search Interest

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External References