At both Eastside stores, residents find that the parking lots are dimmer and without raised plots or walkways to separate rows of parking. Inside,shoppers feel that the aisles are narrower and the floors dirtier than the stores they see in other parts of town. How Eastside Residents See Their Stores Residents of East Austin know their food resources are limited. The concerns of Eastside shoppers emerged through more than 100 discussions with them about the ways they shop. In these individual and group meetings, most Eastside shoppers expressed that they do not shop at their preferred store because they lack transportation.
Many shoppers rely on carpooling, buses, taxicabs or walking to get to a food store.
When residents can't get to one of the supermarkets, they shop at one of the 38 small convenience stores scattered throughout the neighborhood, or at a drug store. When they do get to a supermarket, most residents see poor security, dangerous parking lots, narrow aisles, poor food quality and crowded checkout lines as the main disadvantages of shopping on the Eastside. Discussions with shoppers highlight a variety of real concerns about access to supermarkets on the Eastside. Resident Gloria Jackson deplores the lack of shopping carts at one store. When asked, the store manager acknowledged that customers had to wait 20 or 30 minutes for a shopping cart and blamed the neighborhood for the theft of carts.