Frankly, I'm tired of watching the big grocery chains play dominos with each other. Each appears to pick up and move elsewhere when their profit margin isn't exorbitant enough. I do understand the bottom line, but folks I question the need for these supercenters in the first place. Do you really need four or five choices of string beans? It's not surprising that they need to make millions each week. Just the electric bill is staggering enough on these monster stores.

I grew up in downtown Troy. There was one national store - an A&P. We know what happened to them, but quite frankly, we didn't really need them anyway. You see in Troy there was a mom and pop grocery store at every corner in downtown, uptown, northtown, and southtown - they were everywhere. In fact, there were often two or three at an intersection.

When my mom needed meat we simply walked over to meat markets such as the Troy Pork Store at the corner of Ferry and Fourth, the Economical or Mohican on Third, or the Troy Cash Market on Fourth.

Fish was on Friday! Fulton Fish Market had barrels of fresh fish on ice on Congress near Fifth. I often remember seeing the Fulton workers in their white aprons having lunch at the Famous or Hot Dog Charlie's across the street, and usually bringing that distinctive fish aroma with them. The other choice was the Atlantic Fruit & Fish up the street at 118 Congress.

There were 20 fruit and vegetable stands in the city. I remember Debboli's at the southeast corner of Congress and Third and he always had racks of fresh veggies and fruits neatly arranged in boxes out on the sidewalk.

Lou's Deli on River supplied cold cuts and the best pickles in the barrel. Freihofer's horse and wagon brought us fresh bread and doughnuts each morning. I can't remember the name but there was a dairy that delivered bottles of fresh milk at the door too.

Wagar's over on Federal made delicious ice cream. I remember visiting the factory and getting free samples on a 4th grade outing from School 5. Diamond Rock would deliver their ice cream to your door. Sliter's ice cream, a small dairy was over on Hill street on the banks of the Poestenkill.

When I collected enough soda bottles I brought them over to Bellman's Pipe Shop on the corner of Congress and River and left with a large bag of penny candy (often getting two pieces for a penny).

Folks, all of these places were within a five minute walking distance of each other in downtown.

I also remember a market called "Central Market" at 387 First and in North Troy at 6 102nd. I wonder what became of them (hint)?

When I was a struggling college student living on third near Washington Park, I had a "tab" over at Cuozzo's on Third. During the week, I purchased my goods, and when I received my little paycheck from working at school I would go over and pay my bill. Imagine trying that at Price Chopper!

It didn't matter where I lived growing up in Troy. There always was a place to buy groceries. In fact, there were 242 grocery stores and more than 55 meat markets in Troy in 1958! Many, if not most of them, delivered your groceries to your home at no charge!! Do you know there isn't a listing today for 'grocers' in the phone book. It tells you to look under "Convenience Stores" (20); "Delicatessens" (10); "Markets" (1); or "Supermarkets" (15). Tells the story doesn't it?

It's true that today the cost of goods are more expensive and mom and pop could not buy in the vast volumes of a Price Chopper. However, let me make a suggestion to Mr. Golub and the others.

Put aside your thirst for becoming a billionaire for a minute and consider this proposal. Why not rent out some corner buildings throughout the city within walking distance of those neighborhood folks and create a new brand of mom and pop stores. If my calculations are correct, you could probably rent out a couple of dozen or more stores that would cost less than one of your supercenters. You already have the distribution network. I would also suggest you hire a mom and pop to run each store. This would take care of the urban population and your supercenters would still be there to take care of the mobile car loving suburbanites.

Imagine that kind of corporate responsibility. Making sure everyone has access to low cost food! What an optimist I am!