What Mamdani can learn from city-run grocery stores across America

Mayor Zohran Mamdani is rolling out his city-run grocery stores — and New York City has a lot to learn from metros that have done the same thing. The five NYC stores, which the city says will open by 2029, plan to offer shoppers a 30% discount on core goods like meat, dairy, and fresh produce through government subsidies offered to private operators that will run the stores. In other cities, lawmakers have opened city-run stores through a series of grants and loans.

Some, such as a public-private partnership-run supermarket in Atlanta that closely resembles Mamdani's proposal, are financially viable. Other experiments in places like Kansas City, Missouri, failed and closed because of high overhead costs, dwindling city support, and theft.