The small food store, synonymous with community in the neighborhood

In many neighborhoods, small food stores continue to be synonymous with community and bonds to hold on to, despite living through tough days due to competition from large supermarkets and the internet. This Saturday marks the Day of Local Commerce, although it is a concept that Fredy Alonso Pérez champions daily with the service he has been providing at his fruit shop for 18 years in Bilbao. "We try to have everything, because the supermarkets are far from the neighborhood people, most of whom are elderly," explains Pérez, who says he knows "practically all the customers," many of whom he assists over the phone and delivers their purchases to their homes "because they know what you bring them." The owner of Los Cuñados fruit shop explains to Efeagro that he works with leading food brands, as "people stick with a brand and that's it." In his shop, he sells fruits and vegetables, dairy products, bread, and preserves, because "to survive you have to include other things" and think ...