I was debating whether to post the pic and let it be a case of “if you know, you know,” or if I would explain it. There’s this trend of people saying things like “it’s not my job to educate you,” but actually, this whole site basically exists because I feel that it is my job to educate. . . at least when it comes to Hartford stuff.
Barrio means “neighborhood” in Spanish. But it’s not really, or rather, not always a neutral term. It comments on the socioeconomic conditions of the neighborhood. It says something about who lives there.
I saw this sticker in Downtown, which felt out of place, and probably why it stood out to me. Downtown is hardly el barrio.
The other detail worth sharing is that the sticker is a play on the Bravo Supermarkets logo. There are two Bravo stores in Hartford — one on Maple Avenue in the Barry Square neighborhood, and another on Albany Avenue in the Upper Albany neighborhood.
I don’t know if the sticker is a critique or a shout out to Bravo, or just someone being creative and not even putting that much thought into it, or maybe it’s a tag. I don’t know who made this art. It certainly was not me.
I’m sharing this because it made me laugh, and because it gives me an excuse to remind people that Hartford residents do have supermarkets to shop at within city limits.
