Big-box shy Chicago facing "food desert"

For the past year or so, Chicago Alderman Joe Moore has been leading the charge to keep big-box retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target out of the city. The Chicago City Council passed a bill mandating "living wages" for big-box employees--but the bill was vetoed by Mayor Richard M/ Daley.

Organized labor has a hit-list of alderman it wants to see defeated--because they voted against the "living wage" bill--later this month the first round of Chicago municipal elections take place.

Here's some irony: Dominick's is closing more than dozen Chicago stores--Dominick's is a union operation. The doomed stores are shutting down because they aren't profitable.

From ABC 7 Chicago:

The planned closing of more than a dozen Chicago Dominick's grocery stores will create what one researcher calls a "food desert" in some neighborhoods.

More...

Gallagher Research found the move would leave 75 city blocks and more than 18,000 residents with little access to full-service grocery stores. The research also indicates closing grocery stores may have a negative health impact on women and children.

"You have to have access to healthy food to choose. Sometimes we tend to preach eat those five vegetables a day where in some neighborhoods you can't find five vegetables," said Mari Gallagher, urban research consultant.

The study calls on public officials to create better tax incentives so more grocery stores will open in underserved neighborhoods.

Wal-Mart and Target's largest stores sell groceries, so having more of these big-boxes in Chicago is a natural fit--unionized staff or not.

The big-boxes have acquired a reputation for driving out other retailers. But these closings can't be blamed on the big-boxes; there is just one Wal-Mart in Chicago, and only a few Target stores.

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