Mayday Hardware-An Uncomfortable Place If You Aren't a Gentrifier

Mayday Hardware - To the owner, gentrifiers are valued more as customers

I just went to this neighborhood hardware store. My family has been going here for decades. My late father was a contractor and was a frequent patron giving this store business for decades regardless of the fact that it's extremely overpriced. My father supported local businesses in the community. Today, I was disappointed by Jerry, the owner, who made it clear that I was not a valued customer.

I went in when my car wouldn't start to purchase a key fob battery. Simple right! However, it wasn't. Jerry told me that he had most batteries and gave me a screwdriver to get the fob opened. After I got my key fob opened, he took another customer and finished her transaction. No problem with me. The problem comes when he got into a personal conversation with the woman about her Italian heritage and began sharing about his family, still not a problem. Here's the problem, when I politely interjected and asked if the batteries were in aisle in the store so that I could retrieve it, he told me that they were behind the counter behind him. He told me to "wait while he finished this very important conversation". This is the problem. My purchase is very important to me. I do not appreciate being treated this way. This woman was blond haired and blue eyed and that was the topic of their conversation. How is that more important than my purchase? Gentrification in Prospect Heights is out of control and extremely saddening to me. I have watched families pushed out of the neighborhood because of the rising rent. I've been here my whole life and I'm bothered by this, yet I welcome everyone to the community with open arms. The problem here is that this business owner couldn't simply multi task and tend to his personal conversation with the clearly new member to our neighborhood while providing a service to me. Needless to say, I told him how I felt. He accused me of making it a racial issue and I made it clear that it wasn't race at the core, it was a neighborhood issue to me and explained my families history even told him who my father was and how he supported his business before the neighborhood changed regardless of the high prices and hints of bigotry in the past from this same owner. My father believed in supporting the mom and pop shops and neighborhood staples. This is a major problem with gentrification here in Prospect Heights. The owner told me that my opinion was wrong but failed to provide an apology. I will NOT step foot in this store again.