By Michael Matza
Inquirer Staff Writer

Wearing his frayed Red Sox cap and surrounded by the soft-bread pan sobao and other Spanish specialties, Philadelphia grocer Juan Carlos Romano was at work last week in his Juniata Park bodega.

African American kids gripping small change tore in and out. Spanish-speaking women bought milk and lottery tickets across a Plexiglas enclosure that protects the register and holds fresh white socks and T-shirts.

Depending on the hour, Romano's customers are middle aged and working class, or twentysomethings with neck tattoos and shaved heads.

Born to Dominican immigrants and educated in New York and Santo Domingo, Romano, 28, is emblematic of the often-transplanted, frequently transnationalist entrepreneurs from the Dominican Republic whose corner markets, hair salons and other enterprises are an increasingly important presence in the region's growing Latino business community.

READ MORE: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_region/20080622_
Dominican_businesses_booming_in_Philadelphia.html

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