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Well until SNAP[1] is blocked from being spent on snacks and sodas these sites will always be in use. The list of foods that are acceptable encourage these stor
by Shivetya 7y ago
Well until SNAP[1] is blocked from being spent on snacks and sodas these sites will always be in use. The list of foods that are acceptable encourage these stores to focus on the high profit side of the list which equates to what many would see as pure junk.
Plus in some areas you cannot get a grocery in due to zoning or regulatory agencies which can increase the costs of worker and compliance needs beyond normal. There are many rules regarding handling of produce and raw foods that drug store type sellers never have to meet.
[1] https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/eligible-food-items https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/eligible-food-items
- alexhutcheson 7y agoZoning in Manhattan has made it essentially impossible to build a new grocery store in a normal location. Pretty much all recently-built grocery stores are in basements, due to a "zoning hack" that makes that compliant: https://twitter.com/MarketUrbanism/status/1054518549971111936 https://twitter.com/MarketUrbanism/status/105451854997111193... This is unfortunate, because Manhattan clearly has excess demand for good grocery stores, and the incumbents (Gristedes, etc.) are terrible.
- schoolboard 7y agoWhen I lived there we called Gristedes "Grosstedes" and Gourmet Garage "Greedy Garage"... 125th street Fairway made up for it but it was Hell getting through there ...
- alexhutcheson 7y agoHeh, we call it "Gristicky". I'm consistently shocked that anyone shops there. Expired food on shelves, wilted or moldy produce, long waits for slow checkout clerks, and prices that are easily 3x what comparable items cost at Trader Joe's. Those grocery stores would easily be extinct with more meaningful competition. The only thing that keeps them in business is the "natural monopoly" caused by the fact that most Manhattanites don't have cars and aren't willing to travel very far for groceries.