via WSJ:
- Last month, Chicago, population 2.7 million, launched a study on the feasibility of opening a municipally-owned grocer to get more fresh foods and spur economic development in a number of mostly low-income neighborhoods.
- Chicago, which has lost six groceries on its South and West sides in the past two years alone, aims to take advantage of a new $20 million state fund designed to address what are known as food deserts across Illinois.
- The departing stores in Chicago have cited poor margins and crime among reasons they have pulled out, prompting the Chicago Tribune’s editorial page to argue that the city won’t have any better luck than savvy national retailers.
- Ameya Pawar, a former Chicago City Council member and now senior adviser at Economic Security Project, a liberal nonprofit that supports things like a guaranteed income, says cities have long run complicated businesses like airports and just because private companies have given up on some parts of the city doesn’t mean the city government should too.
- “A grocery store is a high-volume, low-margin business. We understand that, but it isn’t rocket science,” Pawar said.
ERIE, Kan.—As Chicago studies whether to become the first big city to open a municipally-owned grocery store, it will be looking to places like this city of 1,000 people for tips on how to do it.
At the moment, things aren’t going especially well. Erie Market, which the city took over in 2021, is losing money almost every month amid stiff competition from a Walmart 15 miles away and a Dollar General across the street. The store has slashed prices, cleared the shelves of expired items and put in a salad bar to try to bring more people through the door.