The First City-Run Grocery Store Is Opening in NYC, Here’s What That Means

If you’ve ever felt like you’re subject to the whims of big business, you’re not alone – and that’s evident in fewer places than at the supermarket. The last couple of years have created a lot of nerves when it comes to the weekly food shop: The threats of tariffs raising prices and advancements in things like surge pricing (which could now be coming to Walmart) have meant that prices no longer feel as stable as they used to. 

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The mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, has offered a correction to this: A city-run grocery store. What was originally an idea is now a reality, with the first store announced as opening soon in East Harlem, specifically in La Marqueta. Let’s talk about it.

City-Run Grocery Stores: an End to Spiraling Prices

In Mamdani’s 100 Days Address, which he delivered yesterday, April 13, he confirmed that city-owned stores would soon be popping up around NYC, building on his promise to open five of these during his campaign, one in each borough. “I am proud to announce that we will open every single one of these stores by the end of our first term,” he said, before confirming that the first one would open next year in La Marqueta.

The La Marqueta location is significant: As Mamdani said in his address, it’s the same market that Fiorello La Guardia, the 100th mayor of NYC, opened in 1936, which he did to give working people a place to shop for produce at a reasonable price. In East Harlem, meanwhile, 40% of households have received public assistance or SNAP in the last 12 months. 

The store will be built on city-owned land and will be able to provide customers with goods at wholesale prices, or at least at lower prices than those found at competitors. These will be, says Mamdani, “stores where prices are fair. Where workers are treated with dignity, and where New Yorkers can actually afford to shop. At our stores, eggs will be cheaper, bread will be cheaper, grocery shopping will no longer be an unsolvable equation.”

Will It Work?

Mamdani definitely thinks so, and he addressed this question in his address. Raising the thought that government-owned businesses would never be able to compete against the likes of Walmart and Target, he said, “My answer to them is simple: I look forward to the competition.” 

These government-owned grocery stores are coming at a time when they’re going to be pretty welcome by customers. As Mamdani said, grocery prices increased by nearly 66% in NYC between 2013 and 2023, and they’re showing no sign of dropping any time soon. These grocery stores may not have the same amount of selection as other places might, but we’d imagine they’ll be very welcome to those who are looking to save some money.