Building Grocery Stores In Underserved Areas

[trymahjong]

got an interesting email from city councilman costello--

Greetings!

I would like to share with you an editorial that appeared in the Chronicle yesterday about the need for more grocery stores in under-served areas. This is a project I am very passionate about and look forward to continuing my work on.

Carrots for carrots

Let's build grocery stores where they're needed

HOUSTON CHRONICLE, Editorial

All cities try to steer developers to build things that'll be good for the public and not just for the developer's bottom line. Most cities use a carrot-and-stick approach that's heavy on the stick: They rely on rules that prescribe what developers can and cannot do. But Houston - unzoned and less-regulated - is a carrot-y place.

Our City Council prefers using incentives to encourage goodness. A developer who gives the city something it wants can reap rewards such as sales-tax rebates; reimbursements for installing infrastructure; and even the use of city-owned land.

Of course, even in the best of times, a city can afford only so many carrots. That's why we're pleased that At-Large Council member Stephen Costello wants to make sure those carrots are used thoughtfully. Instead of waiting for developers to propose economic-development deals, Costello is more strategic: He's beginning with a solid public goal in mind.

Costello aims to eliminate "food deserts," parts of town that lack serious grocery stores, vegetable-deprived barrens where it's easier to buy french fries than a raw potato. It's a serious problem in Houston. According to the Food Trust, just to meet the national average - one supermarket for every 8,600 people - we'd have to add 185 stores.

This may seem surprising if you live west of downtown. Houston's wealthier neighborhoods have great stores. But the eastern side of the city - east of I-45 on the north side, and east of Highway 288 on the south - is a different story.

There, supermarkets' absence is a serious problem. Fresh vegetables aren't just good for your health; their sale is good for your neighborhood economy. Supermarkets create jobs, both directly and indirectly: As strip-center anchors, they generate traffic that allows stores around them to flourish. A good supermarket raises the value of nearby homes. And all that economic activity feeds the city's tax base.

Recently, City Council turned down Costello's proposal to give economic-development priority to steering supermarkets where they're needed. But Costello continues to make those projects his own priority.

And we're glad: It's smart to use financial-incentive carrots in a way that makes it possible to buy actual ones - the orange kind that are full of vitamin A.

Click here to read the original story (http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/7698696.html)

Sincerely,

Stephen C. Costello

[Nate99]

Everyone has to eat. You may start with figuring out why it is cost prohibitive to operate a large retail establishment in some neighborhoods and not others.

[RedScare]

got an interesting email from city councilman costello--

I don't find puff pieces put out by politicians to be interesting at all. The only thing interesting would be who is going to be the recipient of the graft generated by any proposals. It certainly will not be the poor residents.

[LTAWACS]

His grammar is horrendous. It's no wonder our country is going down the drain.

[Specwriter]

Everyone has to eat. You may start with figuring out why it is cost prohibitive to operate a large retail establishment in some neighborhoods and not others.

IMO it's all economics. You have the "Hell Kroger," the Fiesta on Mykawa at the South Loop, Seller's Brothers at the Gulf Freeway and Wayside, and the HEB at Gulfgate (a neighborhood that actually appears to be on the ascent in the case of the latter two). Those stores must be earning money for their owners/investors else they would e shut down. A good question to answer is, "Why or how are those stores profitable?"

[Nate99]

IMO it's all economics. You have the "Hell Kroger," the Fiesta on Mykawa at the South Loop, Seller's Brothers at the Gulf Freeway and Wayside, and the HEB at Gulfgate (a neighborhood that actually appears to be on the ascent in the case of the latter two). Those stores must be earning money for their owners/investors else they would e shut down. A good question to answer is, "Why or how are those stores profitable?"

Agreed. Selling food is pretty much an annuity business. The only reason you would avoid being close to where people live is if there were some other attendant costs that go along with the location.

I'm no expert, but I would imagine that grocers make their profit on extras (beer and wine, bulk candy, deli meats, bakery stuff), not staple products. Bread, milk and eggs are probably sold at cost in Clear Lake or The Woodlands to get people in the door. If all you can sell are bread, milk and eggs, you're either going to charge more for it and bear the wrath of "gouging" accusations, or you don't bother to open a store at all. No frills bare bones operations can't even compete when other places will sell stuff at a loss.

[LTAWACS]

It's becoming more and more clear to me that this Costello character hasn't the slightest inkling about economics. Ugh.

[infinite_jim]

The sol'n is to teach kids how/why to eat better foods.

Using the gov't to incentivize already profitable businesses is just a bad idea on it's face. If it's really a crushing status quo "food desert," then accelerate the problem to a point where people will have to do something. Something.

Perhaps simply binging in more residents will get the attention of grocerers or maybe establish viable flea market competition to Airline.