I had two that I went to all the time - one almost daily, the other at least once a week. The owner would save a bag of my cat food for me! He'd keep it behind the counter so he didn't run out when I came to get it. Another always made sure to stock my Snapple Orangeade. These are small businesses, they know their customers amazingly well and make efforts to connect with them, and for me, they are symbolic of so much of the best of NYC.
Now missing bodegas :( Wegmans doesn't hit quite the same, lol (although admittedly they have great produce).