Is there a food desert in your town?

[GSP_37]

I've been wanting to eat some Sam's Club tuxedo cake. Doesn't seem to have too much sugar.

Yes, the local supermarket shut down two stores within past year or so. They can't compete with Costco and Sam's Club. They stopped running weekly ads in the newspaper. I'd only buy from there for convenience or variety that Costco or Sam's doesn't carry.

 

[AtomicPanther]

“In some cases…”

In other words, crime was not the issue. It was simply that the stores did not make enough money. But they have a legislative agenda to push.

Crime is so much lower today, even with the post Covid spike that is declining anyway, than it ever was in the 80s and 90s. So much lower.

Or maybe they just got tired of dealing with it. Who cares why they closed the stores, they have every right to.

 

[Jack Reacheround]

Obviously the stores that still do enough sales to make up for the losses can stay open longer than ones where they're only stealing and aren't selling enough to make up for it.

And why wouldn't local police handle crime at local businesses? That's what their job is.

Correct. In other words, crime was not a determining factor. It was simply that they mistakenly opened stores in places where they didn’t do much business. While there was more crime at other locations, those locations did enough business that they kept them open anyway.
This isn’t a matter of “crime rate.” They simply said “There’s too much crime at these locations.” As if there is a threshold amount of criminal activity that they don’t allow in their stores. And that simply isn’t true.

Stores have to provide their own internal security. Just like nigh clubs and other businesses. They can’t just tell the city to staff their stores with x number of cops every day. So they have to hire security. And that is the operating cost they are trying to dump on police departments.

 

[Fluffernutter]

I been hearing how in some places that supermarkets are packing up and leaving neighborhoods due to either a lack of profit, higher rent cost or criminal factions roaming around the neighborhood. Problem is that, this is causing serious health issues for the people in the area who have no access to healthy produce and are stuck with gas station foods or just fast foods which is extremely unhealthy.


It seems like I am hearing more and more about food deserts more.

Our town is very anti-megacorporation. Target, Walmart, etc. have been banned. It's quite hard to buy school clothes for kids. But, hey, we're sticking it to corporate America. So, everyone buys just about every non-food good they need through Amazon. Our town policy makers doesn't see the irony.

As for food deserts, we have tons of super markets. For a small town we have three Safeways (owned by Albertsons - $71 billion), Trader Joes ($16 billion), etc.

So, we refuse to allow multi-billion dollar companies in town, unless they provide groceries.

 

[NoSmilez]

The bottom line is profit. It's not really some ghetto or not thing. All these big chains opened up in your area under the premise of providing care/supplies/jobs for locals. They push out all the local businesses and smaller supermarkets. When it isn't profitable for them then all those promises go out the window.

 

[sleepwalk]

My opinion is that maybe there could do a mobile Walgreens truck pahrmacy....Medications, diapers, formula, OTC meds....then people can walk up and get the necessities without the threats of danger or theft. Help the elderly. As for the shopping, you can't ask a store to lose because you can't control your population. As a community you need to start raising your kids right ot stop the shoplifters when YOU see them.

In the areas where those trucks would be needed, those trucks are getting jacked.