Post #1320565

2026-04-11 05:50 UTC

We’re used to a lot of owners and managers of convenience stores (I think this includes corner stores?) and gas stations being naturalized citizens and foreign nationals. Idk how that got started or how widespread it is, how much of it is a true demographic vs confirmation bias of what we see portrayed in entertainment and media—but either way there is a clear concept of people in that line of work, true or not.

Replies (3)

@echodot@feddit.uk 2026-04-11 07:56

Do Americans say “corner shop”? Corner shops are usually UK thing because they are shops that are on the corners of residential streets, hence the name. When the houses were built it was thought that people would need access to convenient shops so they built the street with a shop on it.

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@Trainguyrom@reddthat.com 2026-04-11 14:47

Part of this is because for someone in the process of obtaining citizenship in the US it's actually much easier to legally start a business than it is to legally get a job. And with the decade or so that it can take to become a fully naturalized citizen in the US, folks have to make ends meet somehow so they'll naturally start a business since that's the one way they can legally make money until they get a work permit. This is part of why there's such a thriving restaurant scene for foreign foods across the entire US, a family will come and pool their time and money to open a small restaurant, and that will be how they survive until everyone gets work permits and eventually naturalized. There's even a sub-industry of immigrants teaching other immigrants how to start a successful restaurant and what recipes work well for the American pallete. This is where some of the staples of Americanized Mexican and Chinese menus come from for example.

Open ##2379039
@Danquebec@sh.itjust.works 2026-04-11 13:32

In my city, the overwhelming majority of convenience store owners are Chinese. I should ask the ones near my house how they started.

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