Photo: Indiegogo
New York, NY; December 6, 2021– Mom-and-pop corner bodegas have a new competition: tech companies offering fast grocery delivery. But today bodegas are fighting back by launching an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign that will fund their own mobile app, ‘My Bodega Online’, to compete with new tech micro grocery warehouses, a.k.a., “dark stores” that are growing in the City of New York.
“Bodegas are the quintessential small business. They employed more than 60 thousand people in New York City. We must support their fight for survival” said Frank Garcia, Chairman of the National Association of Latino State Chamber of Commerce. “The objective of these big new tech companies is to eliminate mom-and-pop grocery stores. In 2017 they tried to kill bodegas with the so called ‘Bodega Box’ but we fought and won. The same should happen now. We encourage the community to pitch in and support this crowdfunding”.
“We ask these big tech and VC-backed startups to create new business models that helps our mom-and-pop grocery stores because Bodegas are a key part of the fabric of the City of New York, and technology is key to help them continue to prosper in our communities for years to come” said Reverend Carmen Hernandez is the President of New York State Coalition of Hispanic Chambers of Commerce (NYSCHCC).
“Bodegas have been present when others have been absent. To secure our service we must become part of the online commerce revolution”, said the president of United Bodegas of America (UBA) Radhames Rodriguez. “We ask New Yorkers to join this movement to save ‘Bodegas with Technology’. We won’t disappear like the neighborhood taxi driver that disappeared when Uber disrupted the taxi industry. Now we have our own app and our own technology to fight back and win.”
“We believe that by using our own technology our clients will be happier and we, bodega owners, will increase our revenue,” said Francisco Marte, founder of the Bodega and Small Business Association (BSBA). “Our own application upgrades our delivery system, from taking orders over the phone to receiving online orders with a mobile app.”
“The funds for this crowdfunding campaign will help cover the cost of hardware, equipment and jumpstart local marketing,” said Jose Bello, CEO of My Bodega Online, a company founded by five bodega owners from the Bronx and their family and friends. “We are a grassroot, bootstrapping startup looking to improve bodegas with technology.”
The National Association of Latino State Chamber of Commerce, the New York State Coalition of Hispanic Chambers of Commerce (NYSCHCC), the Bodega and Small Business Association (BSBA) and the United Bodegas of America (UBA) are asking the public to join this fight and support this crowdfunding campaign by going to Indiegogo.com and searching ‘Bodegas with Technology’ or by clicking this link.
