Introducing new grocery stores into low-income communities has been a focus of policy efforts to improve the food environment. Yet, evidence of the impact of this strategy on diet and health outcomes is inconsistent. In Baltimore, a not-for-profit grocery store was opened by the Salvation Army in March 2018 with the goal of improving healthy food access. Unfortunately, the store has so far failed to attract sufficient customers. This study explored the reasons for low usage from the perspective of community members and staff members. A qualitative, formative research study was conducted at the store, which included semi-structured interviews (n = 21), direct observations (n = 8), and sociodemographic surveys (n = 152). Reasons for low store usage included high prices, confusion regarding the nature of the store, and lack of product variety. Reducing prices, increasing community engagement, and using promotional materials were all recommended strategies to increase usage. The Salvation Army is interested in potentially opening other nonprofit grocery stores. The results of this study will be used to help the Salvation Army refine their nonprofit grocery store model and in their future planning.
Published: March 2021
ID #: CAS051
Journal: Ecol Food Nutr
Authors: Daniel L, Hinman SJ, Harper K, Ali SH, Gu Y, Poirier L, Park R, Trujillo A, Gittelsohn J
Related Research
March 2019
Impact of an Innovative Pricing Manipulation Study on Sales & Purchasing in a Low-Income Urban Community Store
This project will expand an existing study and test different pricing manipulation strategies for both healthy and unhealthy foods and accompanying promotional strategies in a community grocery store. The research team will introduce a series of pricing manipulation strategies on a monthly basis. For each food item, they will identify two healthy and two unhealthy MoreJanuary 2025
Simulated retail food environments: A literature review of systems science approaches to advance equity in access to healthy diets
As researchers increasingly utilize systems science simulation modeling (SSSM), little is known about how and by whom SSSMs are being leveraged to address inequities in access to healthy diets. We evaluated the extent to which studies (n = 66) employing SSSM to examine retail food environments (RFEs): included three pillars of equity (social position, human capital, socioeconomic MoreSeptember 2024