NYC mayoral candidates are proposing city stores as KC models are struggling
Fox Business’ Kelly Saberi has details from Kansas City, Missouri on “Varney & Co.”
Community-owned grocery stores in Kansas City, Missouri are on the verge of closure as the concept of municipal subsidies for such stores has attracted more attention across the country. New York City Mayoral competition.
Local governments in Kansas City have tried to deal with what is called “food desserts.” grocery store They sell fresh produce, meat and other healthy options along with standard supermarket dishes.
The store, known as KC Sun Fresh, lost nearly $900,000 last year and received tens of millions of dollars dating back to 2018. The pre-pandemic success of the store’s nonprofit turned into a recession several years after the pandemic, as customer traffic fell and store operations suffered.
Kelly Saberi from Fox Business Network visited the store and noted that most of the store’s shelves were only naked or partially stocked.
Mamdani public grocery stores could have devastating impacts on urban food supplies
Privately owned grocery stores usually operate at a thin profit margin. (Getty Images/Getty Images)
One customer told Saberi that the quality and selling price of the product is superior compared to other local options. Shopper stock He then said that changing ownership was beneficial.
“There’s no meat, no vegetables, none. None. Are you going to take care of the community surrounded by you? Otherwise, sell the store to someone more responsible,” the patron told Saberi.
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Some municipalities are exploring government-run grocery stores to address the “food desert” that lacks access to full-service grocery stores. (istock / istock)
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas admitted Crime issues It affects the area around the store, but he notices another nearby grocery store is on track, so the city needs to find a way to solve its operational problems.
“While we hear and understand the crime issues and concerns, there’s a grocery store right next to the street — mostly the same kind of areas, the same number of detectives and some of the statistics, are still pretty good,” Lucas said. “So we want to make sure we can get those operations right, and that’s the job we’re trying to work together.”
The grocery store runs relatively thin Profit ratio This makes it extremely difficult to operate in a financially sustainable way, as it falls in the range of 1% to 3%.
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New York State Senator Zoran Mamdani has won the Democratic nomination for Mayor of New York. (Bing Guan/Reuters/Reuters)
Zoran Mamdania New York City mayoral race candidate who advocated socialist policies, included plans in his campaign platform to create city-owned grocery stores in each of the city’s five wards.
“They buy and sell at wholesale prices, centralize warehouses and distribution, and partner with local communities of products and sourcing,” his platform said.
Mamdani’s plan calls for the suspension of urban subsidies to private grocery stores in order to redirect these funds to actual “public options.”
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson proposed City-owned grocery store After the city experienced the closure of Walmart and Whole Foods in 2023.
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However, the Johnson administration has since supported plans for city-owned grocery stores and has explored the creation of a city-owned farmer market. This focuses on providing vendors with a place to sell their products rather than full-fledged stores.