Municipal Grocery Store Feasibility Study for Chicago
Economic Security Project
HR&A was commissioned by the City of Chicago to develop a comprehensive feasibility analysis for municipally owned grocery stores as a solution to the city’s inequitable access to healthy, affordable food. Through market analysis, operational modeling, and risk assessment, the study demonstrated how Chicago could establish a network of stores to address the city’s food deserts.
Chicago’s challenge was acute: major chains including Aldi, Whole Foods, Walmart, and Save a Lot had closed several locations between 2021-2023, abandoning historically disinvested communities despite receiving incentives like cash subsidies and tax credits. In West Englewood and East Garfield Park, neighborhoods afflicted by these closures where median household incomes fall below $32,000, 63.5% and 52% of residents respectively live more than half a mile from grocery stores. HR&A’s approach combined detailed market research with practical operational planning to address the complex challenge of sustaining grocery stores in business in neighborhoods where traditional retail models have proven economically untenable. The team then developed and tested three distinct operational scenarios for public grocery stores, analyzing the financial complexities and identifying specific funding gaps that would need to be addressed.
- Chicago’s plan to establish city-owned grocery store revised in favor of public markets
- Chicago wants to open a city-run grocery store. It could be the solution to urban food deserts
- Chicago Mayor Proposes City-Owned Grocery Store to Combat Food Insecurity in Underserved South and West Sides
- Chicago could fill food desert with three-store network of city-owned grocery stores, consultant says
