Post by WaTcHeR on Dec 26, 2005 22:28:51 GMT -5
Dec. 26, 2005 - Dreams of a blue Christmas were dashed yesterday when a renegade Chinese supermarket chain blew off Bay State blue laws and did a brisk business — until the boys in blue arrived, that is.
Boston cops rolled up before noon to close the bustling Super 88 Market in the South Bay Center. The six-store Asian supermarket chain also opened on Thanksgiving despite warnings from Attorney General Tom Reilly.
“People need to eat. People come in here to do last-minute shopping,” shrugged an unapologetic Rudy Chen, the chain’s general manger. “It’s not a big holiday for Asians.”
Super 88 stores have closed on Chinese New Year every year for 25 years, even if the holiday falls on a prime weekend shopping day, Chen said. “We don’t expect other stores to close that day.”
Boston police spokesman Officer John Boyle said management agreed to lock the doors after police showed up.
“Detectives will issue a license premise violation and seek a complaint in South Boston District Court,” Boyle said.
Reilly’s office couldn’t be reached.
James Creelman of Roxbury got turned away at the market’s door by four uniformed police officers stationed in the entryway. He left wondering how he’d make Christmas dinner without butter.
“I think it’s kind of archaic,” Creelman grumbled. “Who is some religious type to tell me I can’t get a pound of butter?”
He can thank the Puritans, who laid down the law — the blue laws, that is — 400 years ago.
“I could use some apple sauce. Where is this place?” quipped state Sen. Cynthia Creem (D-Newton), who has pushed to repeal obscure blue laws such as those banning blasphemy and fornication.
Creem said she doesn’t find the law against retail stores opening on Christmas quite so absurd because it protects workers from being forced to toil on the holiday. But Super 88’s Chen said it’s just another day for his mostly Chinese-American staff.
Quincy police shut down a Super 88 Market in that city on Thanksgiving Day while the Boston stores remained open for business.
The South Bay Center market wasn’t exactly trying to fly under the blue law radar. A sign in the entryway boldly advertised holiday hours of 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Christmas. Police had the store emptied out shortly after noon.
Raymond Rodriguez of New York, who’s in town visiting an ill relative, got a taste of New England Puritanism when he showed up to buy a holiday turkey.
“The blue law is making us blue,” Rodriguez quipped.
Dr. Philip Barron of Canton was one of the lucky ones who made it to the register with his last-minute purchases before police pulled the plug. He picked up assorted roughage and, on impulse, a few Chinese herbs that caught his eye.
“If this place was closed we’d be without a salad,” Barron said. “I appreciate that they’re open.”
Boston cops rolled up before noon to close the bustling Super 88 Market in the South Bay Center. The six-store Asian supermarket chain also opened on Thanksgiving despite warnings from Attorney General Tom Reilly.
“People need to eat. People come in here to do last-minute shopping,” shrugged an unapologetic Rudy Chen, the chain’s general manger. “It’s not a big holiday for Asians.”
Super 88 stores have closed on Chinese New Year every year for 25 years, even if the holiday falls on a prime weekend shopping day, Chen said. “We don’t expect other stores to close that day.”
Boston police spokesman Officer John Boyle said management agreed to lock the doors after police showed up.
“Detectives will issue a license premise violation and seek a complaint in South Boston District Court,” Boyle said.
Reilly’s office couldn’t be reached.
James Creelman of Roxbury got turned away at the market’s door by four uniformed police officers stationed in the entryway. He left wondering how he’d make Christmas dinner without butter.
“I think it’s kind of archaic,” Creelman grumbled. “Who is some religious type to tell me I can’t get a pound of butter?”
He can thank the Puritans, who laid down the law — the blue laws, that is — 400 years ago.
“I could use some apple sauce. Where is this place?” quipped state Sen. Cynthia Creem (D-Newton), who has pushed to repeal obscure blue laws such as those banning blasphemy and fornication.
Creem said she doesn’t find the law against retail stores opening on Christmas quite so absurd because it protects workers from being forced to toil on the holiday. But Super 88’s Chen said it’s just another day for his mostly Chinese-American staff.
Quincy police shut down a Super 88 Market in that city on Thanksgiving Day while the Boston stores remained open for business.
The South Bay Center market wasn’t exactly trying to fly under the blue law radar. A sign in the entryway boldly advertised holiday hours of 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Christmas. Police had the store emptied out shortly after noon.
Raymond Rodriguez of New York, who’s in town visiting an ill relative, got a taste of New England Puritanism when he showed up to buy a holiday turkey.
“The blue law is making us blue,” Rodriguez quipped.
Dr. Philip Barron of Canton was one of the lucky ones who made it to the register with his last-minute purchases before police pulled the plug. He picked up assorted roughage and, on impulse, a few Chinese herbs that caught his eye.
“If this place was closed we’d be without a salad,” Barron said. “I appreciate that they’re open.”