The word bodega is not offensive in and of itself. “Bodega” is a term derived from Puerto Rican and Hispanic culture for describing small corner markets and/or convenience stores in urban areas, typically owner-operated in New York City or other Northeastern urban metro areas. These stores sell some combination of household goods, snacks, beverages, coffee, newspapers, tourism trinkets, and more. Bodegas frequently feature a delicatessen serving sandwiches and other meal varieties.
Similar stores exist all over the United States and in other countries where they are often referred to with other popular regional terms. The word “bodega” itself comes from the Spanish word for “storeroom” or “wine cellar.” While the term is rooted in Caribbean Hispanic culture, many stores that might be referred to as bodegas by customers are operated by workers from other parts of the world, most commonly the Middle East. Whether or not these business owners refer to their stores as “bodegas” varies from one store to the next, but they are not known to be targeted by public criticism because their business model is the same as the one utilized by Hispanic bodega operators.
While the term itself is rarely if ever viewed as offensive in its original context, there has been public criticism of other business models that were said to be appropriating the term. Most notably, a tech startup in San Francisco decided to call itself Bodega while launching a service that places a box full of goods inside apartment buildings, with computer software that takes note of which resident takes what and charges their credit card accordingly.
Critics claimed that both usage of the term “bodega” in the name as well as the sale of goods that traditional bodegas might sell were an offensive, racially charged appropriation of bodega culture, since this business model would be utilizing large amount of venture capital funding to capture sales that otherwise would have likely gone to traditional bodegas operated by working-class people of color. This disruptive business plan would undermine traditional bodegas’ incomes while utilizing their name for branding a completely different business model.