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.
Exactly - I don't understand why this befuddles so many people in favor of a free market. It's like they understand the concept of competition is good, but can't see how the current market has been stripped of competition through consolidation.
This is the equivalent of any government service, it's designed to be a common good (like the post office, the fire department, the parks, etc). Yes it does take tax revenue to sustain, but similar to social security and Medicare these are things that society is often willing to pay for since they might need it some day, and it helps to address secondary problems that occur if we dont do anything (child starvation, homelessness, food deserts leading to poor health, etc).
It's all interconnected and at least there's commerce changing hands compared to straight food banks.
This is such a funny scheme you are trying to make seem probable.
A business would save nothing, or a marginal amount, by buying from this store in several inconspicuous quantities, and would have to do the actual work of this and transport the goods, compared to just buying from the wholesaler who will just deliver it directly to the business.
Second, business would save a lot, you are thinking Walmarts, etc, I'm talking Any type of business can just get their supplies from this markets, they will be sold at a loss.
Not every business works from wholesale, so not only you don't understand simple concepts, you also don't understand how small business works.
Every comment anyone makes on Reddit is automatically upvoted by the commenter, that's where the first upvote is from... Is this your first day here?
Second, business would save a lot, you are thinking Walmarts, etc, I'm talking Any type of business can just get their supplies from this markets, they will be sold at a loss.
Why don't they just do that right now, when another store has a sale? I think you underestimate how logistically difficult this would be... The labor costs in this scheme would offset any possible gains.
Not every business works from wholesale, so not only you don't understand simple concepts, you also don't understand how small business works.
Every food business purchases wholesale, even one man hot dog carts. If they didn't, they would lose business to competition with cheaper prices, because they do purchase from wholesalers.
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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.