Officials seek incentives to bring grocers to Oklahoma
BY MICHAEL MCNUTT
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Published: November 2, 2009
Grocery store owners are developing an appetite to move into some of the small towns and city neighborhoods where years earlier stores closed after a major discounter arrived, an Oklahoma grocery wholesaler says.
"A lot of those markets that Walmart originally came into years ago and put the ‘moms and pops’ out of business, grocers see an attraction ... to go back in there,” said Jeff Pedersen, vice president of merchandising for the state’s Associated Wholesale Grocers Inc. "It just has to be financially feasible to go back in there and have a good base of business.” Bill Wertz, regional communications director for Walmart, said, "We always welcome competition. We feel it’s good for the customer.” Pederson said several retailers have asked his company, the only grocery wholesaler in the state, to be look for locations. Walmart sells about 60 percent of groceries in the state; his company sells to 235 grocers that make up 32 percent of the grocery market, he said. Grocery retailers would have to have a smaller store to reduce overhead and emphasize customer service, he said. "It doesn’t cost anything more to tell your employees to say, ‘Thank you,’” he told members of the House Agriculture and Rural Development Committee last week.
Developing stores
Economic incentives, such as tax breaks, would be a further encouragement to get groceries back into rural areas, he said.
Studies show nearly half the state lacks convenient access to nutritious foods. While grocery stores and supermarkets — stores with 50 or more employees — have decreased in the state in the past 10 years, convenience stores, which offer fast foods and snacks, have increased.
"A traditional grocery store is going to have certain offerings — you’re going to have the meat, produce and maybe some baked goods — as well as your core grocery items,” Pedersen said.
Reps. Seneca Scott and Jabar Shumate, both Tulsa Democrats, requested last week’s committee study on getting mom and pop grocery stores to move back to city neighborhoods and rural areas. Grocery stores offer healthier foods and often buy produce grown in the state, they said.
With the state facing revenue shortfalls and state agencies having their budgets cut, it will be difficult to get tax breaks or incentives, Scott said.
However, he said he’s encouraged by several federal grants that could be tailored to fit grocery store development.
Scott said providing incentives to grocery stores and its healthier foods would in the long run help the state’s economy by lowering health care costs. Oklahoma ranks sixth in the nation in obesity, which leads to various health maladies such as diabetes and heart problems.
It would also mean many Oklahomans would not have to choose between convenience and health, Scott said.
‘Food deserts’
A study by the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture, a nonprofit educational foundation near Poteau, shows a quarter of the population in 32 of Oklahoma’s 77 counties lives 10 miles from a supermarket. All those "food deserts” are in rural areas.
But food deserts also exist in Tulsa and Oklahoma City in neighborhoods where residents have to drive at least three miles to get to a grocery store, Scott said.
Many children aren’t getting fed fruits and vegetables, said Stephen Eberle, community food and gardening coordinator for the Indian Health Care Resource Center of Tulsa.
Many mothers who receive food stamps can’t cook meals or don’t have access to healthy foods, he said.
Landon Norton, with the state Health Department, said a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report showed a state’s healthy food retail policies aid residents’ consumption of fruits and vegetables. The report found Oklahoma had far fewer healthy food retailers than the national average and it had many food deserts.
Wertz said Walmart is buying an increasing amount of locally grown produce in Oklahoma.
"We know that our customers are looking for fresh, local produce and we have made a number of arrangements with local produce suppliers,” he said.
Scott said the state’s Quality Jobs Act could include grocers based on the number of people hired.
Pedersen said "and it does something just for the pride of a community when you have your own grocery store.”
Related Topics:
Culture and Lifestyle, Health and Fitness, Food and Cooking, Foods, Fruits and Vegetables, Diet and Nutrition, Healthy Eating
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I HATE going to Walmart! They are always out of stock on whatever it is I need, the people are rude, you cant find help when you need it. Thier produce is never ripe, their stores are dirty.. But.. when you live in no mans land.. what is your other option? We do have another local store.. but we only go there for 1 or 2 items, when we dont wanna drive all the way to Shawnee.. because theyre higher than hell!
How sad!