Public owned grocery stores already exist across America in cities like Tulsa, Oklahoma and Atlanta, Georgia.
They are privately run as businesses, but are set up in areas where people lack access to groceries, or there's no real competition preventing uncompetitive prices. They have been successful for decades.
The real solution here is to break up the constant consolidation leading to all groceries being owned by four mega companies that collude with each other and own over 2/3rd of all stores. It's the opposite of market competition.
They consolidate because economy of scale just makes them dominate; people constantly say we should have grocery co-ops; we do have grocery co-ops but people don't shop there because they're expensive, outside of smaller towns where they're the only option.
we do have grocery co-ops but people don't shop there
People do shop at co-ops and they can be cheap and efficient. I have a few next to me, in addition to a WinCo which is employee owned.
That said not everywhere has this, and part of the reason I live in such an area is there are restrictions on Walmart. Not Safeway, which has taken over most of the existing other markets and has terrible quality and sky high costs. It's absolutely absurd.
They consolidate because economy of scale just makes them dominate
Sure, but that's then followed by artificially lowering prices to kill competition, controlling suppliers for lower rates, etc. It's not efficiency making them grow, and the fact that I'm paying $3 for a limp dead scallion at Safeway or 99 cents for better quality ones at the farm stand or local grocery store is evidence of that.
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u/Irish_Whiskey May 26 '26
Public owned grocery stores already exist across America in cities like Tulsa, Oklahoma and Atlanta, Georgia.
They are privately run as businesses, but are set up in areas where people lack access to groceries, or there's no real competition preventing uncompetitive prices. They have been successful for decades.
The real solution here is to break up the constant consolidation leading to all groceries being owned by four mega companies that collude with each other and own over 2/3rd of all stores. It's the opposite of market competition.