Here’s what happens when a neighborhood’s only grocery store closes
That changed last month when Save A Lot, the only grocery store within a mile from Rayeford, closed its doors in the middle of a pandemic.
Rayeford, 30, says she felt abandoned. “It’s the worst time for this to happen,” she said. Without a car and unable to afford taxi fare, she now has to ask relatives and friends to drive her to pick up groceries. At a time when people want to limit their contact with others, she added, that’s an especially tough ask.
Rayeford and residents in the St. Paul’s neighborhood, more than half of whom are unemployed, are living in what the Agriculture Department defines as a “low income and low access area” — one where a “significant” portion of the population lives more than a mile from the nearest supermarket or grocery store in urban areas. These areas are commonly known as food deserts, although the term has no official meaning.
Fast food joints, Family Dollar and 7-Eleven are the main food options available within walking distance in the St. Paul’s area.
Rayeford worries she will have to shop more at Family Dollar, where “you can’t get your vegetables.”
Aldi is 1.9 miles away from the closed Save A Lot, Food Lion is 2.2 miles away and Walmart is 2.4 miles. While Harris Teeter is a little closer, it’s still about a 30-minute walk and is more expensive. These distances may not seem too far, but transportation is a barrier for Rayeford and the majority of residents in the area. More than half of households within a half-mile of the Save A Lot lack access to a car, according to the city. In a quarter-mile radius of the store, 61% of households don’t have a car.
“Fresh food and produce are already costly and sometimes hard to come by” for St. Paul’s residents, said Dr. Henri Parson, associate professor at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk. “With the additional burden of distant grocery stores that require transportation, this becomes even harder and adds additional stressors, which diminish quality of life.”
Norfolk city officials, community activists and local residents heard rumors for months that the store might close. But they say they were caught off guard by the timing of the announcement in June and were not prepared to handle the consequences of losing the neighborhood’s only source of fresh food in the middle of a public health disaster.
“Save A Lot gave us no heads up,” said Angelia Williams Graves, who represents the area in the Norfolk City Council. “I had a notice sent to me on my social media page. I’m frustrated that they did not at least give us the opportunity to at least come to the table and work with them.”
Save A Lot did not respond to Graves’ claim, but said in a statement, “We take the decision to close any Save A Lot location very seriously. We regularly review our stores on a number of factors, including financial performance as well as strategic alignment with long-term plans. Unfortunately, as a result of this review, we closed our store.”
‘A racial justice issue’
Grocery chains “have crafted an ideal client that looks very white,” Graves added. “We just don’t fit the demographic.”
The Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority declined to comment on the lawsuit. The Department of Housing and Urban Development also declined to comment. A spokesperson for the city said “the lawsuit will not slow down the St. Paul’s redevelopment” and “those ready to relocate will continue to be supported in doing so.”
The lone grocery store in the area shutting down adds yet another layer of anxiety for the community.
“You already are in a community going through a gentrification process and stressed out, and then you take away the food. I don’t even know what will happen next,” said Deirdre Love, a local activist and executive director of Teens with a Purpose, a youth development organization.
“Food?” she asked, her voice rising. She repeated the question three times. “Really?”
Rayeford has not been given a move out date yet, but she said she is overwhelmed by the idea of leaving and doesn’t know where she would go. She fears she won’t be able to afford returning to the new mixed-income community.
Rallying around solutions
Save A Lot faced challenges in St. Paul’s.
There was “relatively low spend potential” in the area, and Save A Lot faced stiffer competition in surrounding neighborhoods, according to Neil Stern, senior partner at retail consulting firm McMillanDoolittle.
However, the closure is a “lost opportunity for Norfolk and community residents,” said Stacey Sutton, assistant professor of urban planning at the University of Illinois at Chicago who studies race and gentrification. “This could have been an opportunity to convert this establishment into a worker-owned grocery store,” she said. “Not only would it have retained jobs, it would have supported community wealth building.”
City officials and community advocates say they are discussing both short-term and long-term answers to replace the Save A Lot.
The city has added bus lines to go from the St. Paul’s area to another grocery store, said Norfolk City Manager Chip Filer. But the coronavirus outbreak makes public transportation riskier, especially for older residents and those with health risks.
“It’s a tough time for this type of event,” said Filer. “What makes it acutely difficult is that the obvious short run solution is public transportation, and that is complicated by the existence of the virus.”
Additionally, the pandemic and recession have strained city and state budgets, leaving officials less equipped to respond to the closure.
The city is already cutting staff and programs and will “likely to have to do [so] again in the coming months if there is not a sharp rebound in economic activity and tax collections,” said Robert McNab, professor of economics at Old Dominion University in Norfolk. Even if coronavirus cases decline in the state, “the question is whether Norfolk will have the financial and staff resources to address the residents’ concerns.”
Jones Nichols from the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore said her organization is stepping up its efforts with private and public partners to increase food distribution in the area.
Norfolk’s economic development department is “actively seeking potential grocers,” a spokesperson for the city said. And some leaders are thinking outside of trying to replace Save A Lot with another national chain.
“Corporate America is not the salvation and corporate America is not going to be the long term, sustainable answer to this problem,” Graves from the City Council said in a virtual meeting with local leaders last Saturday about the store closing.
Among the concepts that leaders have been discussing are “food hubs,” which allow local farmers to distribute fresh produce and other items. A city-owned store or a grocery cooperative may also be a long-term answer.
In other areas where grocery stores have closed, Jones Nichols said, dollar stores have filled the gap, but they have not offered fresh produce or many healthy options. She hopes that will not happen in St. Paul’s and that the Save A Lot closing will be a chance to address systemic health and racial disparities in the community.
Added Graves from the City Council: “Black Lives Matter doesn’t just matter when Black people get shot by police. It matters what they eat. Their health care matters.”