> What immediately came to my mind was feed stores mixed with a farmers market which there's an abundance of in rural areas.

What. Where are you getting any of interpretation this from?

The post mentions:

  > small local stores

  > that sell grains and rice and vegetables here

  > small stationery shops

  > or shops of any kind

I can literally walk out my door and in 5 minutes have pictures of all of these on my street.

https://meaningin.com/urdu-to-english/kiraana-in-english

Doing a blind translation, kiraana comes up as.

  > consumer goods sold by a grocer

  > a marketplace where groceries are sold

Where in any of these data points can you infer he means

  > specialized little mom and pops

  > something in-between like a feed store

The kirana stores of India are essentially small grocery shops owned by a individual that sells a variety of grocery and daily use items. Mostly they are limited to dry and packaged items. Things like rice, lentils, breakfast cereals, chocolates, sauces, spices, pickles, jams, condiments, cheese, cooking oil, eggs, milk, packaged drinks and other such items. They will almost never sell things like coffee, tea or ready to eat food items unless they are pre-packaged. In most parts of India, the so called kirana stores will not sell vegetables, meat or fish, but they will very likely be stocking up on eggs. They are typically different shops from the kirana shops.

A stationary store sounds like a mom and pop store. Yes, a kiraana from what I read sounds like a neighborhood grocer but pictures also show them looking a lot more like farmers markets. Feed stores can be like that, but it probably depends on what the area offers.

Stationery store as mentioned by the op here is a shop that sells stationery items. Things like books, pencils, pens, crayons, printer paper, etc. These are typically stores that will not sell you food items. Kirana stores are mostly those that primarily sell food items.

That’s not what the OP means.

The OP means stores that are within walking distance.

That’s why he mentions having to drive to buy groceries.

In India, as in most cities in Asia and Europe (and NYC, NYC satellites), you walk around the corner to buy the vast majority of your daily needs.

> farmers market which there's an abundance of in rural areas. You're not going to find that that in a big city

I lived in Boston for a couple years and went to Haymarket [0] all the time next to the amazing Boston Public Market. There are a bunch of smaller produce stands and specialty shops throughout the city like Deluca's. I am sad to see, however, that Russo's in Watertown has just closed. Elmendorf Baking Supplies in Cambridge looks awesome and I'm sad I left before they opened.

If ya just want a big bag of rice, Super 88 has a great market in addition to all the great food stalls. See also Little India next to Market Basket in Somerville.

You want stationary? Check out Loyal Supply Company in Somerville.

I've been able to locate similar places in every city I've lived in, with the exception of feed stores (although my current city has one, and I just never really looked for one). I'm curious what city you're in, maybe I had it even better in Boston than I already thought. I'm sure the last two years have not been good for discovering new farmers markets in large cities, though.

Check into CSAs too, esp. if you can't find or attend a farmers market. I'm sure that model is branching out from beyond just produce, too. We have a mushroom grower and dairy creamery where I'm at these days.

As someone who escaped suburbia for the city and later countryside, my experience reflects that of the poster you replied to. Big box strip mall chain complexes are found in the burbs.

[0]: http://www.haymarketboston.org/

Yeah, numerous commenters from the North East came to point out how wrong I was about their town. I wasn't talking about visiting the burbs, and neither were they but I agree, there are a lot more big box stores in large suburbs.

What I was really getting at is if they're missing small mom and pop stores, that's most of what the town I grew up in had (specifically in the South, but the Midwest isn't that much different.) I was encouraging them to get out of the city and see the rest of America. Living in big American cities has been a bit soul-sucking for me and not at all reflective of the rest of America, but obviously there's a lot of pride that some people hold for them.