Subject: Race and Place Matter for Major Chicago Area Grocers
Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2003 09:20:36 -0400
From: "Hannah Burton" <hburton@THEFOODTRUST.ORG>
To: Community Food Security Coalition <comfood-l@listproc.tufts.edu>New Report from MCIC (Metro Chicago Information Center), www.mcic.org:
Race and Place Matter for Major Chicago Area Grocers
Did you know that geography and race impact grocery store locations? There are 86 "major player" grocery stores (Jewel, Dominick's, Cub Foods, and Aldi) in Chicago. Approximately 60% are located on the City's north side. This is the case even though the population distribution is roughly equal (1.47 million residents on the north side verses 1.41 million on the south side).
There are eight aldermanic wards in Chicago with no "major player" grocery stores, and all of those wards are predominantly minority. Six of the eight wards are located on the City's south side. Of these six wards, five are predominantly African American and one is predominantly Latino. Both wards with no "major player" grocer on the north side are predominantly Latino.
Analyzing Chicago grocery store distribution patterns by ward is meaningful for three reasons:
Population distribution ward-to-ward is roughly equal.
Most development decisions, in terms of special city variances and incentives, are driven at the ward level.
Access to a full-line grocery store is a quality of life issue as well as a health issue.As we looked at racial patterns of stores city-wide, we found:
3.4 per 100,000 population "major player" grocers in white wards;
2.6 per 100,000 population "major player" grocers in black wards; and
2.3 per 100,000 population "major player" grocers in Latino wardsOnly 6 out of the 50 wards in Chicago are "non-race dominant," meaning that no one race constitutes 50% or more of the population. Five are located on the city's north side. The sixth is the 11th ward, which has a total of three "major player" stores. The average ward has 1.7 stores (8 wards have 0 stores, 16 wards have 1 store, 14 wards have 2 stores, 7 wards have 3 stores, 4 wards have 4 stores, and 1 ward has 5 stores).
Integration is associated with a higher number of "major player" grocer developments, with mixed race wards scoring 4.2 stores per 100,000 population.
MCIC analyzed these same "major player" stores, by suburban location. Combined, there are 284 Jewel, Dominick's, Cub Foods, and Aldi stores throughout DuPage, Will, Lake, Kane, McHenry, and Cook counties (excluding the City of Chicago).
Race again appears to be a factor in suburban grocer locations. MCIC found:
6.0 per 100,000 population "major player" grocers in predominantly white suburbs and towns;
4.3 per 100,000 population "major player" grocers in predominantly black suburbs and towns; and
2.6 per 100,000 population "major player" grocers in predominantly Latino suburbs and towns.Is it All Market-Driven, or Does Local Organizing Matter?
In some Chicago communities, such as Rogers Park (a racially integrated community on the City's north side, where no one race dominates) and Little Village (a predominantly Latino community on the south side), local leaders have worked for more than a decade to recruit a full-line grocer. Dominick's recently opened a new store at Howard and Clark streets (a designated TIF area) in Rogers Park. The new site is adjacent to the Howard Street El station, one of the busiest transportation hubs in the City of Chicago.
Community leaders in Little Village are still working to recruit a full-line grocer for a currently vacant site at 26th and Kostner (also a designated TIF area). A fresh analysis of the 26th and Kostner site is focusing on core business information sets. But at the same time, the Little Village Community Development Corporation is also adamant about including community forums into the process.
"We wanted to have the experts quantify what our market could support, but at the same time, we wanted to identify and document the desires of the community, so that we can make informed choices that serve the interests of everyone," said LVCDC executive director Jesus Garcia.
"As the neutral third party, MCIC crunches the numbers, but in our neck of the woods, whether the numbers scream "SOS" or "opportunity," we still need to organize to make it happen," Garcia noted.
New Players in the Field
In the last 5 to 10 years, specialty grocers and wholesalers on both the north and south sides have responded to untapped markets as well as the changing nature of shopping patterns and consumer preferences. Examples include Trader Joe's, Sav-A-Lot, Whole Foods, Ultra Food Warehouse, Costco, and Avanza.
Many of these new players are considerably smaller than "major player" stores. For example, Sav-A-Lot stores are an average of 14,000 square feet. Avanza (Spanish for "advance"), which has been strong in Denver, caters to the Latino market and has its eye on the Chicago area. Its stores range from 35,000 to 45,000 square feet, compared to the "major player" prototypes that range between 60,000 and 100,000 square feet. Suburbs around the country have also seen discount department stores enter the grocery business. Target and Super Target have expanded food lines, along with Wal-Mart, considered by most industry experts to now be the largest food retailer in the country.
Untapped Market?
MCIC research has found that many undervalued communities have untapped markets for grocery stores, bank branches, and other mainstream products and services. These opportunities often go unrealized because of one or more of the following factors:
- Stereotypes, prejudice, and lack of connections to local market players;
- Bad data;
- The wrong data; and
- The wrong business location model.In the case of full-service grocery store development, it is interesting to note that, according to a study sponsored by the Food Marketing Institute, African American consumers make more trips to the grocery store than the average shopper (2.2 trips per week compared to 1.8 trips). Second, African Americans prefer full-service chain grocery stores. Third, they spend more per week than the average consumer ($94 dollars a week compared to $85 dollars for the average shopper).
It’s quite possible that both Big Business and communities are worse off for business location decisions driven primarily by race and place. Better information sets and greater dialogue might generate a win/win opportunity for both sides of the equation.
Hannah Burton
Program Coordinator
The Food Trust
1201 Chestnut St 4th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19107
[p] 215-568-0830 x33
[f] 215-568-0882
[e] hburton@thefoodtrust.orgThe Food Trust: "Ensuring that everyone has access to affordable, nutritious food"
www.TheFoodTrust.org
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