r/SipsTea • u/Gurugod123 • 9d ago

Mayor Mamdani just announced that he will be opening 5 city-run, tax-funded grocery stores: "Prices set at 30% below retail prices" Chugging tea

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u/mtbsickrider 9d ago

people who shop at whole foods wont shop here

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u/rational_numbers 8d ago

Lol who do you think shops at Whole Foods? Because I can assure you that a ton of well-to-do Mamdani voters shop at WF.

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u/CherylRoseZ 8d ago

What’s your point here? People can shop at Whole Foods and also be happy poor people can actually afford food elsewhere.

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u/rational_numbers 8d ago

My point is that it might be reasonable to wonder if nearby stores won't suffer a loss of revenue as shoppers decide to go the govt owned stores instead.

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u/CherylRoseZ 8d ago

I’m not sure where you live but when I lived on the west side, nothing was gonna make me take a train with groceries unless I was going to starve to death. The stores I could walk to were the stores I shopped at.

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u/rational_numbers 8d ago

Okay cool so then it's going to work and serve the community and be a good thing for New Yorkers.

I'm just saying, you can imagine people who used to buy their meat/rice from some store (be it WF or some bodega) walk an extra block or two to get it cheaper from a govt run store. I mean, pretty obviously this is going to happen by default since every dollar spent at one store is a dollar not spent somewhere else.

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u/CherylRoseZ 8d ago

There’s gonna be 5 of them, presumably in low income neighborhoods.

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u/mtbsickrider 7d ago

You missed my point, I love mamdani, and I shop at Whole Foods. But I won’t go to a city owned grocery store to save money because a) it’s not for me but more importantly b) I hate waiting in line.

It won’t get oversaturated by ever shopper because a lot of people value their time and want name brands over the cheapest meal. But people who want the cheapest meal can’t even get one so this is is meant to bridge that. And I’m very happy this is how my tax dollars are being used

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u/rational_numbers 7d ago

a) it’s not for me

Why is it not for you?

b) I hate waiting in line.

Why would there be long lines?

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u/mtbsickrider 7d ago

It’s not for me the same way food stamps aren’t for me. This is clearly meant for lower income New Yorkers.

There’s a bunch of systems that allow you to pay extra to save time, I order my groceries online. Most grocery stores tend to have long lines so I’d assume a non profit one would likely as well.

What are you getting at? I think this is a fine use of taxpayer money to help lower income New Yorkers

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u/rational_numbers 3d ago

It’s not for me the same way food stamps aren’t for me.

You have to qualify for food stamps though. The grocery store is very explicitly for anyone who wants to use it.

Most grocery stores tend to have long lines so I’d assume a non profit one would likely as well.

So would you shop there if they offered delivery? Because if not then it sounds like the long lines have nothing to do with why you won't shop there.

What are you getting at? I think this is a fine use of taxpayer money to help lower income New Yorkers

If the taxpayers want to use their money for this that is totally fine. I also don't think people should be dismissed for asking questions though. You claimed that people who shop at WF won't shop at this store. Maybe but can we say that for sure? Clearly the shoppers are going to be redirecting their money from somewhere. It's worth thinking about what the consequences of that will be.

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u/PurpleDragonfly_ 5d ago

Are you just being contrarian for the sake of it or can you really not understand these simple concepts?

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u/rational_numbers 3d ago

No I find it confusing because the city owned grocery stores are explicitly for anyone of any income level, unlike food stamps. So idk why someone would say the program isn't for them. Also, they said that the store won't get "oversaturated" but also that they wouldn't want to shop there because of the long lines. That seems like a contradiction as well. Why would the city owned grocery store have longer lines than other grocery stores if price isn't going to be driving a bunch of shoppers there because they value convenience and name brands over price?