A feasibility research for the town describes a provincial grocery model as “necessary, possible, and implementable” almost a year after Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration suggested opening a locally owned grocery store to help improve food access on the South and West sides.
The research advises the area to establish some form of a municipal store or stores, and concludes that such stores might even be able to turn a profit. It even suggests the city never try to run a mall itself, but rather companion with a for-profit controller, a non-profit operator or a co-op.
In recent years, personal grocers have shut down a number of stores on the South and West sides, leaving many residents with significantly fewer opportunities for fresh produce.
City plan key S. Mayumi” Umi” Grigsby said internal and external working teams will then work on developing a plan for a business or businesses in an appointment with the Tribune. The area would then be ready to apply for cash for quite a task, including from a new ,$ 20 million position grocery effort.
” We certainly believe that public choices can increase accessibility, value, and services in areas where government may be leaning in and leading the charge,” Grigsby said.
The report says that “decades of structural racism, separation, and divestment have led to diminished citizen mass, disposable income, and society infrastructure”, which makes it hard to attract and retain grocery stores in specific city neighborhoods.
” These suburbs present a typical resistance to the risk of the business,” said the gossiper. The City must play a role in creating and maintaining food services in neighborhoods without access to them, the report said, “in the presence of private field action or commitment to provide lasting grocery options.”
If it does so, Chicago would be the first major U.S. area to start a locally owned grocery store. Some smaller towns have attempted to open their doors to open spaces. The governor of Atlanta issued a call on social media earlier this year for businesses interested in forming partnerships with a local grocery store.
The food organization is extremely hard, with operators forced to contend with razor-thin margins, large overhead costs and a fragile inventory.
Early detractors of the city’s initial announcement about exploring a municipally owned grocery , expressed skepticism , that Chicago would have the capacity or expertise to operate a store. The feasibility study addresses those concerns while noting that the city has no internal experience with the grocery industry. Instead, the study advises that the city work with an outside company to operate a store that is municipally owned.
” We’ve always wanted more of a collaborative scenario”, Grigsby said.
The feasibility study was announced last fall that it would be made available to the general public beginning this year. Grigsby claimed the city still intended to make it known, but would not specify a date for when that would occur.
According to the study, a network of three stores could save the city money based on scale. A network of stores might cost more upfront, according to the study, but the overall profit margin of the project might increase. According to Grimsby, the city intends to open more than one store.
The report, which was created by researchers at HR&, A’s economic development consultancy, does not make any recommendations for specific neighborhoods or locations where a store or locations would be located. However, it weighs the benefits and drawbacks of possible partnerships with for-profit, non-profit, or co-op.
For-profit operators bring grocery industry expertise and experience, the report notes, but are “profit-driven and risk-averse” and have historically struggled to operate sustainably on the South and West sides. Non-profits, the report finds, are mission-driven and therefore likely to try and stay open even if faced with budget shortfalls. Co-ops are described as strongly connected to the community but challenging to replicate and spread across multiple neighborhoods.
Former alderman and senior adviser at the non-profit Economic Security Project, which collaborated with the city on the report and hired HR&, A.,” It’s really not some radical departure from what we already do,” said Ameya Pawar, a former alderman and senior adviser.
There might be a cost associated with free rent, but there is also a return on that investment you make for free rent or not paying property taxes, such as longer life expectancies or lower rates of chronic disease. That return is “excl. compared to whatever the investment is today.”
In their efforts to address grocery store access on the South and West sides, Chicago’s mayors have historically struggled to achieve long-term success.
Over the years, Chicago has tried to recruit and maintain grocery stores in underdeveloped neighborhoods through tax breaks and grants given to developers, for-profit grocers, and non-profits. The city should make use of its resources, such as land ownership and access to public funds, to collaborate with an outside company, according to the feasibility study. The city could, the report suggests, act as a landlord and offer rent or utility subsidies to the independent grocery operator.
Some of the models and funding options outlined in the report are similar to those the city has tried before, but others are likely novel in Chicago, such as offering direct funding to the grocery store operator when necessary.
The city could pay a developer to build a new grocery store on city-owned land in one scenario, according to the report. In another scenario, the city would occupy an existing retail space before subleasing it to a private operator, with the city and the operator each owing a portion of the rent. Both scenarios, the report notes, would require high upfront costs, though those costs could be mitigated by accessing public grant funds and tax credits.
The city has previously used some of the same tax incentives or grants with mixed success, such as tax incentive funds, community development grants, and new market tax credits, in the report as potential funding sources for a municipally owned store.
Former Mayor Rahm Emanuel brought a Whole Foods to Englewood with the help of$ 10.7 million in city funding, but the store , closed , after only about six years in operation.
After Whole Foods announced its abdication from Englewood, Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration allocated ,$ 13.5 million  , to help grocery operator Yellow Banana reopen an Auburn Gresham Save-A-Lot that shuttered in 2020 and renovate five other Save-a-Lots it already operated on the South and West sides.
Save-A-Lot spokesman Sarah Griffin told the Tribune that the Lightfoot administration first made the announcement about the Yellow Banana grant two years ago, but all six stores are still closed. The company is now aiming for opening dates throughout the fall.
Yellow Banana has about eight months left to open those stores in accordance with its redevelopment agreement with the city, which has also rebuffed criticism from community groups and residents who claim the stores sell low-quality, even rotten produce and offer a poor shopping experience. According to Griffin, delays in construction and equipment have caused two stores to be without power for two months as a result of vandalizations.
The city allocated , another$ 4.87 million  , grant to Yellow Banana early last year to open a new Save-A-Lot in Altgeld Gardens. According to Peter Strazzabosco, a spokesperson for the Department of Planning and Development, that funding has yet to be approved by City Council.
Additionally, the city has given grants to nonprofits in the quest for grocery access. The Go Green Community Fresh Market in Englewood, for instance, opened in 2022 with the help of$ 1.75 million in Neighborhood Opportunity Fund dollars.
The city has previously tried its hand at acquiring land.
In 2021, Aldi shut down a West Garfield Park store, and the city council granted the property’s purchase for$ 700,000 in public funds. The city is currently deciding on a developer for the site, which will include a grocery store. According to Strazzabosco, a future redevelopment agreement with the chosen developer will include the sale of the land to the developer.
According to Andrea Batista Schlesinger, a managing partner at HR&, A who oversaw the team that authored the report, a public option would stand out from other approaches the city has used in the past in part because the city would be taking on the responsibility of keeping the store operational.
The city is entering the industry itself, according to Batista Schlesinger, rather than finding a way to coerce the private sector into providing for underprivileged communities.
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