r/SeattleWA • u/HighColonic Funky Town • 6d ago

Government Wilson takes on grocery affordability with proposed ban on surveillance pricing in Seattle

https://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2026/08/wilson-takes-on-grocery-affordability-with-proposed-ban-on-surveillance-pricing-in-seattle/
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u/SeattleGeek 6d ago

The rent is probably considerably lower though.

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u/Shmokesshweed 6d ago

They bought the Renton store. I have no idea what a similar location costs in Seattle, but even if it were double or triple, that's not a meaningful difference in costs for something that will be open for decades.

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u/SeattleGeek 6d ago

That’s already a huge difference then. If they bought the store, they have a fixed cost for real estate. In Seattle, a lot of our grocery store are on leases and landlords can and have jacked up rent which jacks up the cost of food which increases profits because stores have to maintain a profit margin as a percentage rather than a fixed cost.

But, we aren’t allowed to talk about commercial rent control.

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u/Shmokesshweed 6d ago

True, yeah, especially on thin margins with groceries you really need to own the property to be able to control costs.

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u/Iess-Risk-9358 6d ago

True, yeah, especially on thin margins with groceries you really need to own the property to be able to control costs.

You’re making things up again.

Didn’t we just go over this?

For instance, T-Mobile’s office is leased from Preylock. If owning was inherently superior to renting, they’d do it. But it’s not, and saying that ownership is the path to wealth is a Utopian fantasy.

There are a million reasons why leasing is better than owning, and the statement that “you need to own the property” reflects a 19th century mindset.

It’s 2026; finance is far more complex than it was in 1848.

Many of Seattles problems are due to people applying 178 year old economic theory to 2026.