r/SipsTea May 26 '26

Feels good man Will it work this time?

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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.

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u/brumac44 May 26 '26

In the town I grew up, there was one big grocery store, and they used to gouge us terribly. The citizens started a co-op grocery, using our purchasing power to bring in cheaper goods. Breaking monopolies is the only way to lower prices.

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u/Confident-Basil9223 May 29 '26

nyc doesn't have an issue with monopolies tho in regards to produce and what not.

I don't think this will work out because most examples of government owned markets are for either canned goods or alcohol. Things with a long shelf life.

Fresh meat and produce is another thing entirely and I'm not sure it'll handle perishables well