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The Midwestern city defying claims of 'socialism' by opening its own grocery stores
Chicago officials are being panned for embracing 'socialism' amid revelations that the city is forging ahead with plans to open and run three grocery stores.
The controversial $26.7 million scheme is aimed at serving South and West Side shoppers who otherwise struggle to get decent quality groceries.
Critics have slammed the proposal as akin to the state-run stores of socialist nations, and the notorious bread-lines of the Soviet Union.
Talk radio show host James Golden, better known as Bo Snerdley, said it shows how 'socialism inches closer to a failed, lawless city run by Democrats.'
Others slammed an unworkable 'waste of taxpayer money' when Chicago was already grappling with a $538 million hole in its budget.
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Jason Proctor, a Chicago Republican who's running for the state Senate, says retail should be left to Aldi, Walmart, and other retail experts.
'You need to have an understanding of how operations work, how employees should interact with the public,' Proctor told The Center Square.
'Just another throwing money at a problem that's not going to ultimately lead to a solution.'
He also warned that city-run industries are prone to graft, saying: 'Who others' hands are in this pie? Who are we using for vendors?'
Chicago's progressive Mayor Brandon Johnson floated the idea of municipal grocery stores shortly after taking office last year.
Residents of the South and West Sides complained that stores were consolidating or shuttering, leaving them with nowhere to shop.
The area, they said, was becoming a 'food desert' — an urban ghetto where it's hard to find affordable or good-quality fresh food.
Johnson announced a deal with the Economic Security Project (ESP) last September, with the aim of opening a municipally-owned grocery store.
ESP enlisted the research firm HR&A, which released a study supporting the idea of city-owned stores this month.
The group's 200-page report said public-backed supermarkets were 'necessary, feasible and implementable.'
Chicago would not need to staff or manage the stores — that could be done by a private operator, the researchers said.
The city was 'well positioned' to launch the scheme because it owned land and had access to funding, they said.
Still, it would be tough, they added. Grocery stores run on razor-thin profit margins and struggle to stay in business.
Only two municipalities in the US have taken such a step — St. Paul, Kansas, and Baldwin, Florida, they said.
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Neither of those is on the scale of Chicago, with its population of 2.7 million.
A 10,000-square-foot store built by for a private operator would cost $8.1 million up-front, with $2.7 million of that coming from the city, researchers said.
It would also need a $110,000 annual subsidy.
They also talked up the benefits of opening a 'network of three stores' which would allow bigger bulk purchases and lower running costs.
Chicago's policy chief S. Mayumi 'Umi' Grigsby said officials take the project seriously and could dip into a $20 million state grocery scheme to finance it.
'Public options can increase access, affordability, and services in areas where government really should be leaning in and leading the way,' Grigsby told the Chicago Tribune.
Still, Chicago's track record in opening supermarkets in struggling neighborhoods has been poor.
Former Mayor Rahm Emanuel brought Whole Foods to Englewood with the help of $10.7 million in city funding, but the store shuttered after six years.
Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot's administration tried to buy the site of a West Garfield Park Aldi that closed in 2021. The site remains undeveloped.
Similar city projects to support grocery operator Yellow Banana and Save-A-Lot have also struggled to get off the ground.
Mayor Johnson, meanwhile, is battling claims that his 15-month-old administration is floundering amid shelved tax plans, a migrant crisis, and budget woes.
The Immigration Reform Law Institute, a conservative watchdog, this week branded Johnson the nation's 'worst sanctuary mayor.'
The group accused Johnson of lavishing hundreds of millions of dollars on migrants while his own voters languish in poverty.
His office did not answer The Mail's requests for comment.