On the South Side of Chicago, we all know the script.The government announces with great fanfare some new program that is going to come save us and make our lives better.
Ribbons are cut, and the aldermen and bureaucrats toast themselves as saviors, another notch of the "good" in their belts.Then time passes and, as sure as a 30-point game used to be for Michael Jordan, the program fails and there’s no one around to own up to the failure.We recently experienced another failure when, on July 25, seven Save A Lot stores operated by Yellow Banana on Chicago’s South and West Sides closed their doors for good.By closing day, shoppers encountered half-empty shelves and little fresh produce, tangible evidence that the stores were shutting down.
Where can they go now in neighborhoods already struggling with limited options? My own immediate neighborhood doesn't have one supermarket.We have residents without cars and residents with disabilities, and they’re wondering where they can go next.GOVERNMENT-RUN GROCERY STORES FACE RENEWED SCRUTINY AFTER CHICAGO'S EXPERIMENT FIZZLESOne local woman even stepped up and said she would love to take over the Englewood store at 63rd and Halsted and make it work for the community where she grew up.
They didn’t listen to her or care.The store still closed.Beginning under Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Chicago committed millions in public financing to rehabilitate and reopen six Save A Lot stores on the South and West Sides as part of an effort to preserve grocery access.Many of us saw the problem right off the bat: the government was funding both the stores (the supply side) and the customers (the demand side).
Chicago provided Yellow Banana with $13.5 million in TIF financing to acquire, rehabilitate and reopen six Save A Lot locations.Taxpayers were supporting both sides of the equation: Chicago subsidized the stores' redevelopment, while many shoppers relied on federally funded SNAP benefits to buy groceries.EXPERTS SCORCH MAMDANI'S G...