Maple Honest Shop

Traditional grocery stores are hard to find these days, as supermarket chains continue to grow in terms of size and number of stores and traditional grocery stores are dying out. Same things happened In the Maple Village of Taichung City, where a historic grocery store that had carried memory over generations was closed permanently. As sad as that was, one of the residents within the neighborhood decided to take matters into his own hands. He rented the shop and re-opened it in 2004, naming it “Maple Honest Shop”.

Inside the Maple Honest Shop, neither any price tags nor the cash register can be seen — only an “honest urn.” Shoppers themselves decide the value of their purchase and put the corresponding amount of money into the urn.

Combined with the local neighborship and reviving the peaceful and prosperous time when doors were unbolted at night, Maple Honest Shop prides itself on its rebirth that successfully reconnects the neighborhood. Residents come in turn to maintain the shop on a daily basis, striving to preserve this truly genuine place in this immense and fast-growing city.