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The changing inventory at Valen Lee's supermarket illustrates both the shifting demographics in Sacramento's North Franklin neighborhood and the agility required of an independent grocer, reports the Sacramento Bee.

When Lee's Food King opened in an old Safeway on Franklin Avenue and Sutterville Road 18 years ago, its inventory heavily emphasized Asian cuisine to serve the area's sizable Asian community.

Later, the number of African Americans and Southern whites grew in the neighborhood, so Lee added items familiar in Southern kitchens — greens, okra and gumbo filé — to his produce bins and spice racks.

Today, many Latino families call the North Franklin neighborhood home, so Lee has tweaked the stock again — lengua and carne asada at the meat counter, plantains and a wider variety of chiles in the produce bins, plus masa for tamales and tortillas. The Jarritos soft drinks in tamarind and lime chill next to the Coca-Cola and Sprite.

"We keep our ear to the ground as to what the neighborhood's demands are. As we detect changes in (shopping) patterns quicker, we can take risks," Lee said. "We don't have to answer to somebody else."

Yet, the mega-competitors undoubtedly have forced even longtime independents such as Lee, whose family's Galt Super Market has been open since 1969, to adapt to a changing roadmap.

"When we started at the Galt store, we were 25,000 square feet — that was the norm. Now as the box-store evolution has taken hold, the draw radius is 15 or 20 miles. It changes the dimensions of what everybody does," Lee said. "People say they want to shop at a neighborhood store, but we get beat up on advertising."

As much as 10 times the size of Lee's Food King, big-box stores such as Costco and Wal-Mart and discounters such as Food Source can draw customers from as far as 20 miles away looking to do one-stop shopping. These giants wallop independents with their advertising budgets, deep discounts and vast inventories.

Corporate chains also often invest heavily in technology to manage costs and inventory, tools that are difficult for the little guys to afford.

Still, Lee said, neighborhood grocers can respond to the small needs of a community in a way that's difficult to match from a faraway corporate office.

"We still support the PTA, the cheerleading club. A school wants to go on a field trip, and we'll donate a case of oranges, a box of apples. It might seem small, but it adds up, and it helps our neighborhood," Lee said. "You want to be a part of the neighborhood."