Comparing Food Markets [Common Assignment] Second Step
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Comparing Food Markets [Common Assignment] Step #2
Grocery Stores are one of the most important things in our lives because they are necessary for
people to survive, they need it for healthy and better life. It allows them to purchase food and other
necessities. Also, they can buy anything they need from a specific supermarket. What makes a grocery
store so unique? What makes people choose a specific grocery store? To answer these questions, I used
the scientific method of a French philosopher Auguste comte. According to his argue about ways to study
creations, there are 4 major’s ways which are observation, Experimentation, systematic comparison and
historical research.
Each store has a different and a unique way from each other. From my visit to the two markets,
there are many differences. Walmart is a mainstream grocery store which is located in 1500 cornerside
Blvd, Vienna, VA 22182. There’s a free flat parking outside front of the grocery as well as a very big free
parking garage for no more than two hours, after that they will have to pay 5$ for 3/hours and 25$ for a
day, there were all kind of cars but the special thing I saw there were many diplomatic cars, to be more
specific about the cars I saw many expensive cars and regular cars too. For example, (Mercedes, BMW,
Range rover, Cadillac escalade, GMC, Honda and Toyota) when I was there I noticed there were lots of
cars outside and I knew it’s a wealthy neighborhood. The thing that I relay like about Walmart it’s open
24 hours a day that’s mean I can go shopping any time a day. There are many services they offered to
their clients such as Tire and lube, Garden center, pharmacy (Mon- Fri 9:00am to 9:00pm, Sat 9:00am to
7:00pm, Sun 10:00am to 6:00pm), photo center, pick up (Mon- Sun 8:00am to 10:00pm) Mobile
Application for the store, small food court, Domestic and international money transfers cost less at
Walmart, there are all clothing for the entire family (Babies, young, old age) + toys, every special
occasion or holy days they will have a side for it. When you enter the store there is always a greater also
there are two ways of paying your food purchases, for example, there is a cashier if you used them no one
will check your receipts but if you used the self-check there will be someone who checks your receipts.
Walmart is about 42,000 square feet, is very bright and has light everywhere. Inside the store was
Comparing Food Markets [Common Assignment] Second Step
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advertisements about the Halloween seasons and some banners of decreasing the prices. I really liked how
the decorations are well organized, everything is in the right place also there was a normal radio music
“Don’t you need somebody” by Redone. The first thing when I entered the grocery, one the left side
there were the customer services after that the flowers fridge after I walked around and find the
vegetables and fruits on the left side as well as the bakery. On the right side I find the tins food after that
shelves there was cleaning products shelves, after the beverages fridge, toys sections, at the end of the
grocery store I find the pharmacy. As a customer care, Walmart has 12 cashiers and 6 self-checkouts.
When it comes to the food only a few tins come from other countries but the majority of their goods came
from the USA. The customer's genders are males and females their ages are Kids, young and old ages,
they are Arabs, American, African, Chinese and Latino. Some of the customers they were well dressed
after work and some of them were dressed casually and they interact friendly with each other also with
the clerks. Most of the clerks are male and some of them young and the other middle-aged, their country
of origin: are African American, American, and Latinos. Their race is: black, white and Latinos and they
were wearing uniforms. Finally, Walmart isn’t just a grocery store because they sell goods other than food
products for the whole family.
On the other hand, Halalco is an international grocery store (Middle Eastern) which is located in
155 Hillwood Avenue, falls church, VA 22046. There’s a free parking outside front of the grocery but it’s
not very big because they are sharing the parking with other different stores, I think maximum it fit 75
cars for all stores, there were regular kind of cars like (Toyota, Honda, and fiat, but the parking was
almost full of cars. I knew it’s not a wealthy neighborhood. Is open every day from 9:00am to 9:00 pm
even in the weekend. There are many services they offered to their clients such as: There is a restaurant
inside the grocery shop, also a butcher inside, the store accepts sadaqah from other (it’s money giving to
the poor people in Islam), selling Muslims things (clothes, Islamic books ”Quran” and other, perfumes
and Quran read pen “ is a new learning-teaching technology where voice can be heard, Azan clock, also
anyone can order Arabic books, They sell hand-crafted plant chandeliers and hangers ready to hang ” sea
Comparing Food Markets [Common Assignment] Second Step
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shell hangers”. When you enter the store there is no greater also there is one way of paying your food
purchases, for example, there are cashiers and no one will check your receipts. Halalco is about 4,750
square feet, the lighting wasn’t that perfect but it was clear. Inside the store, there wasn’t any
advertisements or banners but there were many public advertisements on the entrance. I don’t like how
the decorations because isn’t well organized, some of the things aren’t in their place also there wasn’t any
music but there was a sound of Quran. The first thing when I entered the grocery, one the left side there
was the women and men Islamic clothes after I walked to the back and saw the restaurant and butcher,
after that, I find the vegetables and fruits on the right side. On the middle side, there were many kinds of
spices. As a customer care, Halalco has 6 cashiers and no self-checkouts. When it comes to the food
almost all tins and other products come from the middle east “the majority”. The customer's genders are
males and females their ages are young and old ages but I didn’t saw any kids, they are Arabs, Latino and
African American also their race were black, Latino and white. They were dressed casually and they
interact like they know each other, also with the clerks. Most of the clerks are male and most of them are
young people, their country of origin: are Arabs and Indians. Their race is: black and white. They weren’t
wearing any uniforms. Finally, Halalco sells all kinds of Arabs goods.
Running head: COMPARING MARKETS STEP #3
1
Common Assignment Step 3
Type
Walmart Supermarket
Chain
Halalco Supermarket
Middle Eastern
Zip Code
22182
22046
Race/Ethnicity
White - 69.7%
White – 75.6%
Black - 3.3%
Black – 3.1%
Asian - 21.6%
Asian – 12.3%
Latino/Hispanic - 7.3%
Median Household Income
Percentage of Families below
poverty line
Number of Foreign born
Regional origins of 3 largest
Foreign born populations
(regions)
Latino/Hispanic – 12.7%
American Indian/Alaskan
Native - 0.0%
$169,943
2.5%
American Indian/Alaskan
Native - 0.6%
$127,321
1.2%
7,758
Asian
3,437
Latino/Hispanic
Latino/Hispanic
Asian
African
African
The table shows the demographic context of each store. According to American
Community Survey 2015, the vast majority of population who live in 22182, where Walmart is
located, are White 69.7% then Asian 21.6%. The Latino and Hispanic are estimated 7.3%; while
the Black are 3.3%. The most interesting thing I found is that there is no American Indian and
Alaskan native live in 22182. In the neighborhood where Walmart is located, the median
household income is $169,943 which I expected due to the wealthy people and luxury cars I saw
during my observation in that area. The percentage of families below poverty line is 2.5%.
Moreover, the number of foreign born who are in 22182 is 7,758.
Running head: COMPARING MARKETS STEP #3
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On the other hand, the vast majority of population who live around Halalco, which is
placed in 22046, are White 75.6%. The Asian are 12.3%; while the black are 3.1%. Another date
got my attention is that the percentage of Latino and Hispanic who live there are nearly doubled
the percentage of Latino and Hispanic who live in 22182. Also, there is presence of American
Indian and Alaskan native who are estimated 0.6% in 22046. The median household income in
22046 is $127,321. Also, the percentage of families below poverty line is 1.2%. Finally, the
number of foreign born who live in that neighborhood is 3,437.
Going through the reviews about each store by Google, Walmart gets four stars from
almost a thousand reviewers; whereas Halaco gets 3.8 stars from 148 reviewers. According to the
Walmart reviewers, good price and a clean place are the most used description. An Arabic
review written by Mohammed says that the Vienna Walmart has great price and recommend
others to shop at this branch due to the diversity of needs offered there, such as foods,
electronics, and clothing. A few reviewers talk about the staff and describe a bad experience they
had had with them. They also complain about the cashiers and how they didn’t do their job in the
proper way. A review written by Robert describes his experience when he asked the cashier to
help a handicapped man to do checkout and the only thing the cashier did was to refer him to the
self-checkout. In general, all the reviewers agree on that the branch is small comparing to the
other branches and the branch has a lack of sections and needs which most other Walmart
branches have.
On the other side, the most parts the Halaco reviewers complain about are the
organization and design of the store. As their experience, they usually had hard time looking for
the needs they come for and knowing the cost. One of the reviewers talks about how many times
Running head: COMPARING MARKETS STEP #3
he had bought expired needs in Halaco and he highly recommends every shoppers to check the
date of expiration before purchasing. The meat section is most admired section in Halaco. A
review by Amin says that his family has purchased from Halaco for more than 30 years and he
personally knows the owner who is a very good Muslim as his review states. Frusher writes a
review as he witnessed a disagreement between a female and the butcher who misunderstood
what she ordered and gave her a wrong order and then the butcher told her to take what he
brought to her otherwise she would be charged double for a new order.
3
Assemble final written report (Approximately 1200-1500 words)
Before you sit down to write your paper, you may first want to spend some time
pondering what you think we can learn sociologically about our local community -- and
the way it is impacted by globalization -- from this comparison of these different grocery
in our region.
In this final report you will be assembling information from the previous three
steps of the assignment into a single, narrative description of your research project.
The report should begin with a summary section where you describe what you observed
and identify the ways that the two food markets are both similar and different from one
another. In the next section you should interpret your observations and try to link your
observations to relevant sociological concepts that we have learned about throughout
the course.
Your final report should be labeled and organized in the following format:
Summary: Provide a detailed description of each location referencing the guiding
questions provided in Step 2 of the assignment. Use your field notes to support your
descriptions. Limit this section to observable phenomena – things that you saw during
your visit.
Social/Neighborhood Context: For each location provide information about the social
context. Where is this store located? Who does it serve? Use the data/information you
gathered in Step 3 of this assignment to describe important aspects of the surrounding
neighborhood and its inhabitants, i.e., their racial/ethnic breakdown, the foreign-born
population, the median annual income, etc.
Interpretation: In this section, compare and contrast your observations of the two
markets. Among other things, you should think about whether and how your actual
observations differed from your initial predictions. You should apply sociological
concepts that we've learned about in this class -- both from our textbook and from your
review of sociological journal articles -- to help make sense of your observations. Each
time you reference a sociological concept (like, for example, cultural diffusion,
industrial food system, cultural anchors, or transnational corporations), italicize that term
in the text.
Conclusions: What are the most important things you learned through this exercise
in "doing sociology"? What does this research tell you about globalization in our
metropolitan region?
Make sure that your paper cites the sources you use accurately using ASA citation
format, as described in this Quick Tips for ASA Style document (also found
here, https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/583/03/ (Links to an external
site.)Links to an external site.)
Worksheet for Doing Sociology Assignment - Step 1
Author(s)
Example
Article Title
Name of Journal
Volume and
Issues
Year
“Food Fight! Immigrant
Street Vendors, Gourmet
Food Trucks, and the
Nina Martin
Differential Valuation of
Creative Producers in
Chicago”
International Journal
of Urban & Regional 2014
Research
Peter
Catron
Made in America?
Immigrant Occupational
Mobility in the First Half of
the Twentieth Century1
American journal of
sociolojy
Mahmood
Arai, Moa
Bursell,
Lena
Nekby
The Reverse Gender Gap International
in Ethnic Discrimination:
Migration Review
Employer Stereotypes of
Men and Women with
Arabic Names
38 (5)
Pages
18671883
2016
volume 122, 325-378
Issue(2)
2016
Volume 50,
Issue (2)
1
385-412
Brief Summary
This is an interesting research article that
examines social inequality in the "creative city" by
comparing the experiences of (Mexican)
immigrant street vendors in Chicago -- whose
work has long been criminalized -- with the rapid
growth and quick acceptance of food truck
entrepreneurs. On the one hand, the immigrant
street vendors are seen as threat to the "global
city" status of Chicago because they're selling
Mexican foods to low-income immigrants. On the
other hand, the food truck vendors are prized
because they are (creatively) producing foods that
are attractive to mostly white and relatively wealthy
From the article research they indicate that most
of the people who are immigrants from the
southern, central and eastern part in Europe, they
begin working in companies in the half of the 20th
century.After that, they created a piece of data
that shows employers histories and they started it
from many different companies such as Ford
Motor Company and Pullman standard
In that research, they try to explain the differences
between gender employers especially when it
comes to an Arabic name, which plays a big role
in Sweden. That leads them to reduce the number
of disadvantages cv’s applicants that has more
experiences in the work field, then they try to
classify the applicants that have Sweden names
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