There is nothing wrong with it, but I just read the privately owned grocery stores only make between 1 and 3 percent profit, so publicly owned grocery stores aren't going to lower prices very much so people will be disappointed when they realize that. I think the primary problem with Mamdani is that he's promising people too many things that he won't be able to accomplish.
That's 1 to 3 percent profit AFTER the CEOs and the rest of the overpaid management class are paid.
And what does "privately owned mean?
Kroger's former CEO, Rodney McMullen, earned a total compensation of $15.4 million in 2024.
There are probably more than a thousand more overpaid fucks in the Kroger hierarchy skimming off our food costs. It's the same throughout the entire retail chain industry.
Kroger owns a large number of other grocery store chains, including Ralphs, Dillons, King Soopers, Fry's, QFC, City Market, Metro Market, Pick 'n Save, Mariano's, Harris Teeter, Owen's, Jay C, Pay Less, Baker's, and Gerbes. These chains operate under various names and formats across different regions of the United States.
We need to start anti-trust prosecutions again.
I'm just reporting what I read in an article that discussed Mamdani, written by two liberal pundits. Kroger's food is actually cheaper than a lot of other grocery stores where I've shopped. Walmart still has the lowest prices on most items, so I buy some things including organically raised baby carrots, some frozen entrees etc. there. Publix is employee owned, but the prices are usually a bit higher than Kroger, probably because their employees are paid better and receive some small "ownership" in the company. I once worked for a so called employee owned company and I forgot the details of what we supposedly received for that benefit. Ingles, another corporate chain has prices that are very high. Food Depot is a chain that is supposed to be low priced, but they add 10% to the cost of everything when you check out. There was one near me, so I sued it as my convenience store. Aldi's is somewhat cheaper but you never know what you're going to find at Aldi's. All of these stores are privately owned, corporate stores, and they are the stores I am most familiar with in Georgia.
Indianapolis has most of the same stores other than Food Depot and Publix, but there are also some Trader Joes and Whole Foood stores here and they are very expensive compared to the other stores. Gross profit is of course very different from net profit and it may be that big corporations can hike up food prices, but that has not usually been my experience. In fact, there is a huge farmer's market in Dekalb County, Georgia, that is staffed by immigrants and is family owned, unless it's changed in recent years. While the amount of produce and meat offered there was amazing, the prices weren't low when I sometimes shopped there.
So, I could be wrong, but based on what little I've read so far, government or nonprofit stores won't lower grocery prices very much. They will still have to pay all kinds of employees, shipping, management, rent utilities, equipment etc. I'm not against government owned stores, but I do recall when my ex was in the military back in the 70s, while the government owned commissary grocery stores, they were cheaper, but they weren't that much cheaper compared to corporately owned stores, and the food may have been discounted to meet the needs of the extremely poorly paid draftees during that time period. It was so low that most of us qualified for food stamps until the government doubled the pay of the draftees. I'm just not convinced that government stores will be able to substantially lower prices as much as some hope. If Mamdani is able to open some, we will find out. For now, we are just speculating about something that most of us don't fully understand.
Again, why are the prices comparatively low at Walmart, when it is a huge corporation? Even dog food is lower at Walmart compared to the other stores where I shop? We do a lot of grocery store shopping. it's almost a weird hobby for us, so I'm very familiar with the prices in many stores. Walmart starts their employees at about 15 dollars an hour. I know that because a friend of mine's son, who had no job experience started out at that pay. I would imagine that Walmarts in states with a higher cost of living might have to pay more, although there aren't very many in areas that have a high cost of living. That's not a great salary by any means but it sure beats the insanely low minimum wage.
Perhaps the best thing about adding some government owned grocery stores will be allowing people who live in areas far from grocery stores will have a place to buy groceries. I don't recall NYC having many grocery stores at all, but I haven't visited the city in about 15 or so years, so I can't be sure where people buy their food, other from the little corner markets. Maybe someone who lives in the city can fill us in on that.
Tasted great, and nutritious, too!
I guess this belongs in the foodie thread.
