17th Street Market — Local services in Wilmington

This place feels cursed.

There are bad convenience stores, and then there’s this - a place so far gone it feels like the building itself is begging for mercy. Step inside and you’ll wonder if you’ve walked into a crime scene that forgot to file the report. The smell hits first: sour mop water and old fryer oil marinated in decades of neglect.

The floors shimmer with a grease that refuses to die, the shelves are half-empty and half-sticky, and every visible surface looks like it’s been wiped down with the same rag since the Clinton administration. Cockroaches conduct business openly here — they don’t even scatter when you flick the light. They’ve unionized and they clearly pay rent.

The owner stands behind the counter like a man guarding something far darker than a register. There’s an aura about him — the kind that makes the air feel heavier when he looks at you. His smile never reaches his eyes, and his eyes never leave the door. Whatever’s going on in the back room is none of your business, and somehow you know better than to ask.

This isn’t entrepreneurship; it’s entropy with a business license. The place radiates a moral decay that seeps through the floorboards — the kind that doesn’t come from dirt, but from a soul gone rancid. You don’t need a priest or a health inspector here; you need both.

Every neighborhood has that one store you pass by and think, “Someone should really do something about that.” This is that store. Only worse. Because here, it’s not just the milk that’s expired — it’s the owner’s conscience.

There’s a darkness in this place that soap can’t fix. It’s not just dirty; it’s...

I like the store a lot but why close at right before 2 am? And I mean like at 5 til? I don't know. Just seems kind of on purpose. Will still come there I guess but man sometimes can't get there til a few minutes before and guess should have got there 3 minutes earlier. This was at 1:57. Guess hours are from whatever til 1:55. Just seems weird and purposely done. Is what...

I can't believe that they are so petty as to not let me purchase something with 2.00 worth of pennies! My paycheck was messed up and I just wanted to buy something and I guess he felt satisfied with turning me away when I had the rest in cash. I will never go there again. I felt humiliated I would have given them a 0...