Municipal Grocery Stores - Mamdani did not invent that concept. Just found out that it is being done here in ATL too

[tulipsandroses]

What are your thoughts on this concept? (Thoughts on municipal grocery stores please. Not whether you like or dislike Mamdani or his ideas!)
I have mixed feelings about it. Would love to hear other peoples' perspectives.

Atlanta is one step closer to creating 2 grocery stores with fresh food options in food deserts | What to know

The stores are expected to open in the second half of 2025, officials said.
ATLANTA — The City of Atlanta is one step closer to creating two fresh food grocery stores in its ongoing effort to combat food insecurity.
According to a release, Mayor Andre Dickens announced that the city is partnering with Invest Atlanta and Savi Provisions to establish two new grocery stores in low-food access neighborhoods. This is to help provide fresh food options to residents near Campbellton Plaza and Downtown.

SNIP---
This municipal grocery store strategy is a significant step toward addressing food deserts in our city and ensuring that all residents can enjoy healthy, affordable food options," Dickens said. "We believe that everyone deserves access to fresh food, regardless of their economic situation.”
A city release said that both locations will create convenient hours of operation to accommodate various schedules. It will also feature a wide array of affordable fresh produce, meats, dairy products and other essential grocery items. This will be done by partnering with local farmers and vendors.
President and CEO of Invest Atlanta, Dr. Eloisa Klementich, said that the community grocery stores are projected to create 80 jobs with an estimated economic impact of $21 million.
https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/millions-approved-help-create-two-atlanta-grocery-stores-fresh-food-food-deserts/85-8358fa71-921b-4e73-9f2b-8a0d5d3e56f3

A novel solution to give Americans better access to fresh food is picking up steam across the country: government-owned, government-operated grocery stores. Such stores are touted by proponents as a way to provide groceries to so-called food deserts, communities that have been abandoned by for-profit stores that decided it wasn’t worth the investment. But to succeed they have to find ways to compete with the big chains that dominate the industry, keeping costs and prices low.
The problem these stores are meant to address is massive: According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 53.6 million people, or 17.4 percent of the population, live in low-income areas with low access to grocery stores—defined as a half mile in urban communities and 10 miles in rural communities. As consolidation continues to shrink the grocery sector, the number of people without easy access to a store is likely to increase.

Now the idea of public grocery stores has entered the crowded race for New York City mayor. Zohran Mamdani, a socialist candidate and current state assemblyman, has said that if elected he would create a pilot program to put a city-owned grocery store in every borough.
Mamdani said in an interview that the stores can offer lower prices on staples at a time when food costs are rising due to inflation, bird flu, climate change, and other shocks. Prices could rise further with President Trump’s tariffs. And low-income Americans will struggle even more if Republicans follow through on plans to cut benefits like food stamps.

Low-income residents of food deserts are more likely to suffer from diet-related diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
At least 3 million New York City residents live in neighborhoods without easy access to fresh food. In one of the neighborhoods Mamdani represents in Queens, he said, constituents tell him there are several fast food restaurants but no grocery stores. “That speaks to the fact that New Yorkers have been failed by a market-only approach and there is a desperate need for a public option for produce,” he said.

Mamdani isn’t the only lawmaker embracing this approach to cheaper and more accessible groceries. This year, Madison, Wisconsin, is opening a city-owned grocery store in a food desert of its own. Atlanta is set to open two publicly run grocery stores, while Chicago is opening a city-run market. It’s not an entirely new concept. Erie, Kansas, has owned Stub’s Market since mid-2020, buying it when it was at risk of closing, which would have left the city without any grocery stores; city-owned grocery stores exist in two other Kansas towns, including the St. Paul Market, which manages to turn a small profit that is reinvested in store operations.

https://thefern.org/2025/03/are-government-owned-grocery-stores-the-answer-to-americas-food-desert-problem/

[WhiskeyGrinder]

1. As someone who buys their alcohol at a municipal liquor store, I think they're great.

[off-the-clock]

2. He readily offered that the concept was tried in Kansas ..

He may be able to simply take over management if existing places, like Kansas. Might work but have to hope that they can be solvent once the profit doesn't have to be collected. I think it can help people stay in the city, along with the free bus.

It's a very big agenda and I don't know who else has to cooperate to make this agenda happen. It's quite a vision though. Maybe a solid grocery will inspire a solid restaurant and a solid barbershop

[dsc]

3. Mississippi of all places ran their WIC program similarly in the late 1990s

In all of the states I lived in, except Mississippi, people with WIC would go to a grocery store, get their items, and the store would make sure they were on the list and were the right amounts and the state would pay. Often this would be at convenience stores at very high cost. In MS, people on WIC would go to a public warehouse (or have stuff delivered if they couldn't travel) and get their WIC supplies for the month. It was a much better way of doing things.

[rzemanfl]

5. If I recall correctly, something similar was happening here in Florida

at about that same time.

[tulipsandroses]

12. That does sound like a more efficient way of doing the WIC Program

Especially the ability to get it delivered.

[Nixie]

4. Will there be corporate brands in the stores?

Can’t have that.

Corporations bad! Edit: they should just underwrite some Trader Joe’s. No corporate brands .

[MichMan]

6. Prices significantly lower plus great paying city union jobs is a win win IMO.

Will it likely cause existing stores to close? I can't see anyone shopping at them if their prices are significantly higher.

[newdeal2]

7. These stores are usually targeting food deserts

Neighborhoods where there are no accessible grocery stores nearby.

[Arazi]

8. Commissaries and municipal liquor stores are common

Many MANY Americans enjoy them.

This would be an experiment. Food deserts need some out of the box ideas. Try it and let’s see.

[Incanus]

10. That's a good point about liquor stores, poorer neighborhoods always have one of those nearby.

Why would it be a bad idea to open municipal grocery stores so that people can buy nutritious food without having to drive or take the bus?

[Ping Tung]

9. The more the better.

[Solly Mack]

11. K&R