Bodega Replacement Founder Apologizes For Offending Lovers Of Mom-And-Pop Stores

When former Google product managers Paul McDonald and Ashwath Rajan announced the name of their new start-up, "Bodega," people simply did not approve. The company's product is a five-foot-wide glass pantry filled with non-perishable items one might get from the corner-store, or bodega, as they're called in New York City and Los Angeles. The ex-Googlers' concept serves to "shrink" those stores and bring their products straight to consumers at work, at the gym, and in apartment building lobbies.

But for some, Bodega is an unabashed cheap shot that threatens to put the traditionally minority-run stores out of business. "The bodega is a part of culture and growing up. Lessons are learned here that can't be learned from a machine," tweeted @MissGlamzon.

"The guys behind this 'new concept' have no idea how bodegueros/as sacrifice on the daily, to provide for their communities and families," wrote @BodegaStories. "Getting emotional just typing this. Bodegas are not businesses to be reinvented or thrown aside like this. These are hard-working people."

User @Hermit_Hwarang condemned the invention as a violation of social justice, saying, "That Bodega box monstrosity is an attack on immigrant entrepreneurs of color. That kind of bs contributes to the growing racial wealth gap."

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After McDonald and Rajan became aware of consumer backlash, they released a statement on their blog. The two claim to have done research before the name launch by "speaking to New Yorkers, branding people, and even running surveys" to see if the name could potentially cause offense.

"Are we trying to put corner stores out of business? Definitely not," McDonald said. "Challenging the urban corner store is not and has never been our goal. They stock thousands of items, far more than we could ever fit on a few shelves." He continued on that the corner-stores "offer an integral human connection to their patrons that our automated storefronts never will."

McDonald says he and his co-founder want to bring commerce to places where it doesn't currently exist. Rather than take away jobs, he hopes to create them. Most bodegas are independently owned, but they also face competition from large chains like 7-Eleven, home to 15 of the least healthy foods you could possibly eat.