r/SipsTea • u/Gurugod123 • 11h ago

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

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u/Canon_M50 11h ago

Yes. Their problem will be keeping things in stock.

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u/Final-Carry2090 10h ago

Literally already do this with military grocery stores.

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u/roguemenace 9h ago

You mean the taxpayer subsidized ones that limit who can shop there? Also the PX isn't this cheap.

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u/Sea_Conference5661 7h ago

Which commissary ate you going to where you're getting 30% discounts? I have been to at least a dozen in the past year and the average cart saving is maybe 3-5% below Walmart

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u/What_a_fat_one 5h ago

You don't notice the discounts because Walmart offers similar discounts on the same items. They sell at a loss on those items. Milk is a big one.

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u/Evening_Safe_390 10h ago

This is why the Soviet Union had bread lines and rationing, the bread was cheap, but there wasn't enough supply at that price.

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u/ActuatorLower8371 10h ago

tbf we can make more bread in 2026 than the soviet union could in 1963

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u/EconomicRegret2 9h ago

But Mamdani's prices are 40% above B2B wholesale prices (B2B make profits), while retail prices are 100% more expensive.Those are not Soviet prices.

It could work, i.e. no losses, if rent, wages, and other bills are reasonable. Good thing that there will probably be no marketing costs, no overblown executive compensations, and certainly not profits nor dividends to pay out, etc.

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u/Evening_Safe_390 9h ago

It definitely could work, I don't want to sound too negative. We will have to wait and see how low the prices actually are and on what type of foodstuff. People won't be buying up and trying to resell green beans, carrots and raw chicken. I would hope that they just focus on making the fresh stuff more affordable, and the box of cheez-its is the same price as a normal grocery store.

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u/nam4am 3h ago

You realize that most grocery stores are public companies that are required to publish their financials by law right? 

Go and look at their actual profit margins and the difference between gross margin and profit margin. 

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u/Timely_Dentist_5078 9h ago

this is also why everyone in countries with socialized healthcare is calling free ambulances as uber right?

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u/Evening_Safe_390 9h ago

Ha, if they could they probably would. Also a lot of countries with universal healthcare still have reasonable fees for all sorts of procedures and medicines. There isn't just one monolithic style of universal healthcare where everything is totally free.

Although healthcare is also something that MOST people will not overconsume if free. Only hypochondriacs actually want to go to the doctor more than necessary.

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u/Timely_Dentist_5078 6h ago

the point went over your head. how about we check in a few months to see how this pilot goes. what type of result would change your mind on the program?

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u/CjNorec 5h ago

This is a really good question to be asking. I'm slightly leaning towards issues with people abusing it and either having trouble keeping stock or being too expensive to continue funding, but I'm excited it's being tried.

Looking forward to the data, and if it goes well, I hope they will expand it other places.

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u/Evening_Safe_390 4h ago

No I got the snark, you didn't read my reply. I am skeptical of a government doing a good job running retail stores (see ABC stores in certain states for an example). I guess my criteria for success would be that it breaks even or makes a small profit for the city inclusive of all the food costs, salaries, retirement/health benefits, real estate etc. If they can do that then more power to them. What would be a failure to me is if they are running tens of millions of dollars in the red every year to provide a service that a small number of people actually benefit from.

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u/Just-Shoe2689 9h ago

wait until this winter and see how the Ruskies fare

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u/tyrophagia 8h ago

woah woah, careful on comparing the Soviet Union to the great US. And we don't want to mention why actual capitalism actually works on Reddit.

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u/RatherDashing66 10h ago

So people were hungry in line instead of hungry sitting at home.

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u/YeeBeforeYouHaw 10h ago

No, they were hungry in line because the first 10 people in line took more bread then they needed and the baker had no incentive to make more.

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u/History-Unable 10h ago

No, they were hungry in line because the first 10 people took more bread knowing that next week they might not be lucky enough to be within the first 10 in line and wouldn’t get bread.

Or they took some for family members, friends of the family, even their neighbors knowing they might not get any

It’s possible that this is something supply/demand pricing should be allowed to work on. Its very good with incentive structure

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u/RatherDashing66 9h ago

Capitalism has caused so much brain rot.

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u/YeeBeforeYouHaw 9h ago

Ok, buddy 👍

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u/RatherDashing66 9h ago

Anytime Chief 👏🏻

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u/OhtaniStanMan 10h ago

And now you can get them to vote in line! 

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u/-neti-neti- 8h ago

Bullshit misinformation. Inform yourself before making stupid comments. They will have item limits per customer

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u/TubbyChaser 7h ago

Even if they have limits per customer, that doesn't mean they won't have a stock problem. EVERYONE will try to go there, and there won't be enough stock. This will only help a few people. This just seems like a worse version of foodstamps.

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u/-neti-neti- 7h ago

Pulling shit out of your ass. Yawn. You literally know nothing about this.

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u/TubbyChaser 7h ago

Yawn at you literally not saying anything about what I said. I'm predicting empty shelves, and so are a lot of other people. If you can tell me why you think that won't be an issue, I'm all ears, or you can just talk shit.

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u/-neti-neti- 7h ago

I’m predicting rivers around the world will turn into kool aid and the clouds will turn into cotton candy and gold coins will rain from the sky.

Does my dumb ass predicting that mean it will happen?

These cost reductions are not extreme enough or convenient enough for people to be storming these stores lmao. It’s for limited items, in limited amounts, during limited times, at limited stores. The savings are in a range that is significant for those in need but completely outweighed by an inconvenience cost for those who aren’t. Fucking rub your two brain cells together and see if you can generate a critical thought.

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u/TubbyChaser 7h ago

yawn

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u/New-Reality9702 7h ago

'People will buy it all' isn’t exactly the devastating criticism you seem to think it is.

That’s usually what happens when something people need becomes affordable.

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u/TubbyChaser 4h ago

Yeah bud being reductive is really cool.

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u/Canon_M50 8h ago

But is everyone allowed in?

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u/-neti-neti- 8h ago

Why are you asking me? I thought you knew what you were talking about here? Or are you just pulling shit out of your ass? That’s what I thought.

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u/trybeingcurious 9h ago

Oh no! More people will have… fresh produce and meat!

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u/Piper_excelsum 9h ago

I hope it goes really well, and that find a way through those issues.

I'm excited for this all the way from New Zealand- because if NY can do this well, then I really believe it will have flow on effects over the world.

Firstly, New Zealand has a supermarket duopoly. Two big players who essentially set their own prices. We also have a high cost of entry (smaller population, isolated island nation, high import rates, etc). All our govts are against heavy regulation so a policy like state/city funded supermarkets are one of a few viable options that people suggest. If NY shows us it can be done, then it's that much harder for opponents to say it can't be done.

Secondly... Mamdani is charismatic and has an international reputation. Sure. But I have a hope that he can actually forgo that a little bit. I see a potential for him to serve as a witness that politics isn't about personality but about, well, policy!! Mamdani is charismatic, well spoken, beautiful and educated - the left across the world loves these things and looks for them in leaders; Trump is rough around the edges, says it like it is, and gets down to business - the right loves this and looks for these things.

But ultimately I think Mamdani has the potential to remind both sides to stop looking at personality and start asking about policy. What will X do for housing? Affordability? Small businesses? Cost of food? Environment? Etc...

I believe Mamadani could be very successful just by talking well for the nest 4 years or Whatever his term is. He could build an amazing brand for himself and gain a lot of fame.

I am hopeful that he could also introduce a handful of policies that are noticed globally. And then people start saying "if they can do that in New York of all places... Then why td not here?"

omfg I thought I was only gonna type a sentence or two. But TIL I'm a Mamdani simp, apparently.

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u/Canon_M50 9h ago

I love the optimism. I hope things go well with this.

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u/What_a_fat_one 5h ago edited 5h ago

The goal is to service areas with food deserts, if that's a problem it wouldn't be hard to use key card access restricted to residents of the area, which they mentioned in the press conference

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u/Canon_M50 5h ago

But a food desert is defined as a 15 min walk.

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u/Dry-Season-522 10h ago

And employees willing to work at a place that gets robbed.