Better Living. My fellow Hattiesburg older-timers will remember that name.
Back in the day, Better Living was a chain of supermarkets with several locations in the Hattiesburg area.
One on James Street, another on Hardy, with one store in Petal. And, oh yeah (I didn't forget) there was a Better Living Market at the corner of Main & 7th Streets.
When I was growing up in the 1960's, Better Living on Main Street served what is now recognized as the North Main Historic District, along with all of north and east Hattiesburg.
I grew up on Fairley Street, its where my mother did her grocery shopping, usually on Saturdays afternoons.
The store was barely a mile from where we lived, but shopping there still required driving, in order to bring home a week's worth of groceries.
We were a family of seven. (I loved helping my mother unload the car, so I could see what treats we'd have for the week!)
In those days, neighborhood grocery stores were also common in Hattiesburg.
In many cases, these stores were owned by white families, catering to the grocery needs of majority African-American neighborhoods.
Just up the street from our house was Williams Grocery. Mr. Williams and his family carried milk, bread, canned goods, household supplies and fresh produce, much of it locally grown.
There was even a butcher counter where they sold beef, chickens, and sliced cold cuts.
For me, there was nothing more satisfying than fifteen cents worth of hog head cheese and a nickel pack of saltine crackers from Williams Grocery. Hey, don't turn up your noses. (It was a real treat.)
Some of my neighbors didn't have automobiles and were unable to drive to Better Living for a whole week's groceries. Neighborhood grocery stores filled the void, providing an important source for the community's nutritional needs.
Main Street's Better Living Market took on a number of incarnations as the years passed.
Those of you from the old neighborhood will remember some of the names.
After Better Living, the store has also been known as Big Star, Red & White, and Piggly-Wiggly. (I may have even missed one.)
But here's a name you won't forget. Most recently, the constantly name-changing Better Living was known as Sullivan's Grocery.
And, as all Main Street commuters now know, the story ends there.
For a year, Sullivan's Main Street store has sat empty.
In my lifetime, I cannot remember a supermarket not being on that corner.
But when Sullivan's shut its doors, WDAM-TV reported the story and we were assured it would be only temporary, as the store planned to remodel, and reopen with a fresh new look. (We're still waiting.)
Sullivan's maintains a store on James Street, near the Hattiesburg Law Enforcement Complex, now under construction.
That location also began its life as a Better Living Market. I can still hear their radio jingle playing in my head. "You'll live better when you s-h-o-o-o-p...at your Better Living Markets!"
The corner of 7th & Main Streets had evolved into a business center for its east Hattiesburg neighborhood.
Once alive with energy, sadly, the corner is slowly dying.
A now-abandoned Family Dollar Store sat catty-corner to Sullivan's, it closed first.
Adding insult to injury, Hattiesburg's only fast-food chain in that part of town, Church's Fried Chicken, recently shut its doors.
Their closure was an even bigger shock because, for a while at least, we expected Sullivan's to reopen.
Dating back to my childhood, Church's Chicken had occupied the corner for nearly 50 years.
The times I drove by or stopped to get some of their big fried wings, so good with their zesty jalapeno peppers, the store was always busy.
What happened? And, while we're at it, what happened to the Church's location in Petal?
I assume the stores were franchised by the same owners, closing on the same weekend, with no heads-up announcement, no nothing.
And with Church's closing, just like that, North Main's once busy little business district has taken on a ghostly look, with only the Fat Boys convenience store on the corner.
Sadly, 7th & Main now brings to mind the urban blight you might see in larger urban centers, like our state capitol, Jackson.
The loss of Sullivan's has created another problem typical of larger cities. East and north Hattiesburg has become a "food desert."
In case you've not heard that phrase, here's a definition; an urban area in which it is difficult to buy affordable or good-quality fresh food.
Food deserts were common in Los Angeles, where I lived for 12 years, and most prevalent in low-income parts of the city, South Central Los Angeles being the most well-known.
A dedicated effort was made to bring some of that city's big-name supermarket chains to South Central and, thankfully, there has been some success.
It's distressing to see a large portion of Hattiesburg's Ward 2, my old neighborhood, has turned into a food desert.
Our city has only two supermarkets east of U.S. 49. One of those would be Sunflower, mid-Hardy Street, at Hattiesburg's historic and architecturally eclectic Parkhaven neighborhood.
The other, Sullivan's, on James Street, is the only supermarket for southeast Hattiesburg, a largely African-American neighborhood. Also, next door to Sullivan's, is Supermarket Latino, offering goods and services for our growing Hispanic population.
If you live east of North Main Street, there is nowhere in that part of town where you'll be able to buy nutritious foods for your family.
The only thing close to being a "grocery store" would be the new Dollar General on North Main. Where do families in east Hattiesburg go to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables, necessary for a healthy lifestyle?
Dollar General, meant to compete with Walmart, is not the answer to that question.
Dollar stores, while economical, specialize in stocking prepackaged foods, many of which are best classified as junk food.
But, if a family has no other choice, what are they to do? I cringe to think what the children in these neighborhoods are growing up eating. Their most nutritious meals of the day are, most probably, those served to them at public school.
In the Covid-19 virus age, the problem is made even worse. Parents of those children growing up in low-income neighborhoods are losing their jobs.
They include the people you never see, working in the kitchen, preparing foods, and washing wine glasses at the restaurants, until recently, we'd go to enjoy a lovely evening out.
To make matters worse, before the Covid-19 pandemic, the Trump administration had approved a rule that would cut 700,000 unemployed people from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as Food Stamps.
I guess it's easy for some politicians to dismiss the fact that these people have children to feed.
With schools closed, some Pine Belt area public schools are continuing to make it possible for students to get nutritious meals during the week.
After we finally get through the Covid-19 pandemic (we all hope its sooner, rather than later) the problem will still be there for residents of east Hattiesburg.
Most of us take for granted the easy access we have to nutritious foods. Even though the typical American diet doesn't include more of the foods that are best for us. We consume those burgers and processed junk foods at our own peril.
It's worth noting, eating a healthy and balanced diet helps strengthen your body's immune system. Important to know, especially considering the enemy we're fighting. But hey, at least many of us have a choice.
Unfortunately, for those who live in the food deserts of this country, including east Hattiesburg, there isn't much of a choice.
The closure of Sullivan's on Main Street store was a bigger loss than we realize. I live on the west side but loved shopping there.
They were the best place to get a big bunch of locally grown collard or turnip greens.
And, okay, every now and then I'd indulge my own bad eating habits and buy a small package of hog head cheese.
But when it comes to the foods they buy, east Hattiesburg residents don't have the immediate luxury of choice.
Sullivan's Grocery's promise to be back is looking more-and-more like a broken promise, every day.
In the meantime, for the residents of east Hattiesburg, there really is no "Better Living" for them, certainly not when it comes to buying nutritious foods for their families.
Elijah Jones is a writer and a proud graduate of the Hattiesburg Public School System and the University of Southern Mississippi. Send those emails to edjhubtown@aol.com and he’ll be sure to respond.
