Food desert on MKE northside
On June 23rd it was announced that local Kroger affiliate Pick ‘n Save would be closing 5 of its locations across the Milwaukee metro area. Certainly all of these closures will be disappointments for the regulars who shop at their stores, as well as the employees that work at those locations. The negative response to the closure of the 35th street location has caused the most upheaval, and led to an emergency town hall on July 7th held by community organizers at Metcalf Parks Community Bridges.
It is a tricky subject being someone critical of big corporations, and lamenting the closure of their stores. Pick ‘n Save is not a store I have ever been particularly fond of, but it serves a purpose in our communities! I may have been sad when the Yankee Candle closed in Bayshore Mall, but its absence did not create a scented candle crisis in my neighborhood. The population of Metcalfe Park is speaking out against the closure of the Pick ‘n Save at 35th street on the north side of Milwaukee because its absence will create a food desert in that area.
Critical Information on How To Get Involved:
Before we discuss the food apartheid in this neighborhood these are upcoming actions you can participate in if you want to make a tangible difference. Join Metcalfe Park Community Bridges on the ground level, and attend the following events:
Upcoming Strategy Sessions & Alternative Building - Friday, July 11th
Midday Session: 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Evening Session: 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Location: Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, 3624 W North Ave, 2nd Floor
Day of Action – Monday, July 14th (All day long-times will be solidified at strategy sessions)
March & Rally & Press Conference– Friday, July 18th | 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Organizers say event will: “Begin at Metcalfe Park Community Bridges and march together to Pick ‘n Save for a community-led press conference and rally. This will be our collective public statement—we need strong numbers and voices on the ground.”
Pick n Save’s Stupid Ass Response:
Responding to the public’s concern, a representative of Pick ‘n Save suggested a “free year of prescription delivery, and 30 day trial of grocery delivery.” This is nakedly callous and weirdly asks customers that Kroger has abandoned to stick with them anyway. Prescription delivery is maybe fine, I know a lot of people do that. However grocery delivery is more expensive than in person shopping, even beyond its lack of feasibility to replace the brick and mortar store.
According to one study it is approximately 10% more expensive to order groceries than it is to go in person. “Free delivery” is negligible, as most of those fees are caused by blatant markups on the products! Anyone who has ever ordered a pizza will be instantly familiar with what I am talking about, and the black magic of additional fees that turns the purchase of a $10 pizza into a $20 order.
The markup in grocery stores are so egregious in their subtlety and weight that some states have even introduced legislation to regulate their disclosure! We are looking at an average 10-15% increase in the price of food by ordering groceries. This is not sustainable for most households and is even less so when we are discussing neighborhoods with lower average incomes. Prices in inner cities are already higher than suburbs and this closure will make this far worse.
Alderman Stamper’s Proposal
In a statement issued by Alderman Stamper he says “ I am working diligently with the Department of City Development (DCD) and leveraging my relationships with developers and potential business partners to bring a new grocer to this location.” He also calls on Pick ‘n Save to remain open in the interim. Since that statement was put out the chain has made known its plan to close on July 18th, and there have been no updates on a similar business moving into that space as of writing.
This isn’t a takedown piece on Stamper, or this idea. However I would like to call into question the plan’s viability and lack of creativity. Unfortunately these sorts of private/public partnerships trend towards failure and do not lead to lasting solutions. The reality is that even if a smaller chain were to open a store in that location, or if a small business were to open there, that prices would not be able to compete with large chains like Walmart, Kroger, or Aldi. Furthermore this solution was proposed following the closure of the Walmart on Silver Spring Drive in 2023, and that area is still a food desert, with African American Roundtable organizers declaring it a “food apartheid.”
Multiple Smaller Co-ops:
Now we are cooking! This idea has some legs, because co-ops are neat! The idea is that it is a store that creates buy-in from the public by selling memberships in exchange for small pieces of ownership by a community. Those who hold memberships are given special perks such as discounts, and first access to specialized goods on certain occasions. It is a generally cool idea to give small ownership to individuals who wish to see a community organization thrive, and fits with some activists' ideal model for a neighborhood like Metcalfe Park.
Co-ops are not without their own problems however, and one needs look no further than the Riverwest Co-op. An institution in that neighborhood that is constantly teetering on closure, the Co-op faces multiple problems, and some of them are typical of the business model. The biggest concern shoppers express in using the Riverwest Co-op is that it isn’t cost ineffective. Food prices everywhere are rising at incredible rates, and most people do not have the luxury of spending more on them even if it is for a good cause. Though some have argued that coops are price competitive however!
A not for profit food co-op to fill the gap left behind by the closure of Pick n Save may have some utility, and it would be great to see those efforts take off. I do worry that there is not enough power behind one to sufficiently serve a community on the scale of a Pick ‘n Save..
State/City Owned Grocery Store:
Last month New York State Representative Zorhan Mamdani won the NYC Mayoral Primary for the Democratic party. A proposal that particularly resonated with the public was a city owned public grocery store, and when polled was shown to have support by over ⅔ of city residents, with 54% of Republicans even saying that it would be a good idea. New York isn’t even the only major city attempting to provide some sort of state funded grocery store, with both Chicago and Atlanta applying similar tactics to address their own food insecurity problems.
The national conversation around this idea has been dominated by conservative pundits decrying it as the end of the world. No one needs to debunk these claims, because the only appropriate response is to tell them to “shut up.”
The benefits of such a system are that they are not for profit, and could be priced based on cost, and operating expenses, which would pass on savings to the consumer. This system has the staggering ability to combat price gouging at privately owned grocery stores that some have dubbed “greedflation.” This is a relatively new term for the idea that while inflation is based on market conditions, operators have seized the moment to increase prices beyond what is necessary to retain profit margins, and in 2024 it was added to Dictionary.com.
A publicly owned grocery store curbs that impulse at a store level, but also forces its competition to reign in their own excess. As of now Pick ‘n Save/Metro Market hold the lion’s share of grocery stores in this city, though with Aldi and Wal-Mart I would stop just short of calling the chain a total monopoly. The customer savings from a city owned grocery store could give other privately owned stores real competition while providing stability for that neighborhood.
What’s Next?
Something needs to happen, and it needs to happen soon. Pick ‘n Save is set to close on July 18th. While talking heads on national news channels cry about socialism heading for New York City, the mostly black, and lower income neighborhood of Metcalfe Park is facing further barriers to accessible groceries. We need our elected officials to get on board with utilizing public funding to address this problem, because a publicly owned grocery store could work in Milwaukee.
To help be a part of the solution Metcalfe Parks Community Bridges has a variety of ways to get involved. Additionally, the African American Roundtable will be launching a Food Justice Campaign on the city's northwest side this fall.
