Independent Grocery Stores Are Fueling Chicago’s Food Landscape
I am on the phone with Dileep Gangolli, the co-owner of the Green Grocer, a small upscale convenience store located in the West Loop. His voice is kind and thoughtful as he tells me about all the ways he’s had to change his store in the past few years. He used to stock more things such as fresh groceries, but he’s had to slim down his inventory and instead focuses on pantry staples, local beers, and imported wines that offer a good quality for price. “A lot of people adopted online grocery delivery as a permanent change,” said Gangolli. “With more of our customers working from home, we get less foot traffic and we just aren’t equipped to compete with online stores.” This all makes a lot of sense to me, and it also depresses me.
When I pitched this article to Edible Chicago, I admittedly had some biases. I love a good independent grocer who supports local and is also affordable. But that’s getting harder to find. I’ve been wondering what the impact of rising inflation, difficulty with hiring, and the increase in app/online purchases has had on the few remaining independent grocers in Chicago. I expected a lot of the smaller stores to give me the standard reasons as to why they struggle with finding local suppliers (i.e., sourcing locally takes more time, costs more, and the selection can be limited). This line of thinking caused me to doubt the impact independent grocers actually have when it comes to supporting our food economy. And because independent grocers typically do cost more on average than a large corporate chain, I wanted to know: Does it really make a difference shopping independent versus a corporate grocery chain? And why should I, or anyone, seek out independent grocers and spend my money there when it might be easier and cheaper to go to a corporate chain?
So I ask Gangolli a really direct question: “What do you bring to your community?” Gangolli responds with an extremely humble answer of “I’m not sure. I’m not sure what the community actually requires, I’m trying to figure it out.” And then asks if it’s alright if he puts me on hold. You see, he’s working at his store, and although we’ve been chatting for almost ten minutes, a customer just walked into the store and he needs to ring them up. But Gangolli doesn’t actually put me on hold, instead he just sets down the phone and I’m able to overhear him. He greets the customer by name, chats with her about what she’s planning to make (french fries) and asks if she’s going to double fry them (yes). He even makes a comment about how it would be cheaper to just go and buy some already made (it’s too cold outside and hers will be better), and then when I think this can’t go on much longer he asks how the construction in her building is going (the plumbing is taking forever). The man who claims he doesn’t know what he adds to his community is back on the phone again, and I ask how many customers he knows, to which he says “only about half I know.” I end the interview with a bit of joy knowing that in a small shop in the West Loop where ‘only about half’ is no small number of people, a man who deeply cares about his customers is showing up for his community even on a cold winter day.
Overhearing the little snippet of connection and community at the Green Grocer is great, sure. But what about supporting the small local producers? After interviewing Kosta Drosos, the general manager at Fresh Market Place located at Palmer St. & Western, I’m relieved to hear independents are doubling down on local. Independent grocers are incubators for small, local producers. It’s a store like Fresh Market Place that will give a local company its first break. Drosos himself likes to work with companies just getting started: “A guy came into our store and said ‘I just started this company.’ He’s this local Chicago guy who makes a pimento cheese called Bif Cheese; I tried it and I loved it. I told him great, let’s get you in our store to do some tastings. He sold like 40 units in just a couple hours, the customers loved it. Now he’s in over 30 stores across Chicago and we sell out every week.”
As an independent grocer, Drosos has the ability to make those decisions and help new companies launch into grocery retail. Katie Fountain, general manager of the Sugar Beet Co-op, was previously working at Whole Foods—where she says getting a new product on the shelf typically took about a year. “Whole Foods is moving towards a centrally managed system, all based out of Austin, Texas. Companies have to be relatively established and have the ability to get their products into one of the distribution warehouses, which is a big cost.” Most start-up food companies don’t have the resources to do this, which is why independent grocers and co-ops are key sites for innovation.
When working with local companies, Fountain has had to balance profits with support. “It can be hard to get a good price for everyone, and sometimes we have to reduce our margins to make it work.” Considering the low margins and high overheads grocery stores are already dealing with, this is a big deal. Not only are independent grocers taking a risk on a new product, but they are also forgoing bigger profits–all in the hopes of supporting another local business.
But it seems that independents are doing more than just putting a local product on the shelf. Independents and co-ops are also where new, local brands get support through coaching and feedback. Dan Arnett, general manager of the soon-to-open Chicago Market Co-op has been in the industry for over 25 years, and is focused on working with the small- and medium-sized producers in the area. “We see it as a way to lift up other businesses,” says Arnett. ”We are going to find ways to get items into our store; we are here to co-create values.It’s not about being in competition, but to help build a better food economy together.” Places such as Sugar Beet Co-op are going beyond their store shelves to uplift other businesses: This winter they launched an indoor artisan market. Fountain shared, “We are hosting the Oak Park Artisan market with about 20 different vendors—mainly small scale cottage producers selling items like body care products, soaps, flowers, and baked goods. All kinds of things.” Fountain says they hope hosting these market events will create another stepping stone for local producers to launch their businesses.
Prioritizing Supply Chain Transparency
When it comes to the meat department in a grocery store, it’s a huge investment to go local. Limited processing resources and farm consolidation financially incentivize grocers to buy meat at scale from a limited collection of large suppliers, which is exactly what most national grocery chains are doing.
“Farm-to-meat case” is how Drosos describes their program at Fresh Market Place. “We started working with Slagel Family Farm over six years ago. It [the partnership] began with only certain cuts of meat, but when we saw the quality and difference, we then went to whole animal.”
Today the store uses only Slagel Family Farm as their beef supplier. And they aren’t the only ones going whole animal butchery. Chicago Market Co-op is working with Living Light Farm to develop a meat program that focuses on regenerative agriculture. Arnett is focused on not just supporting sustainable farmers, but also building transparency and trust. “I go to the farm and walk it with the farmers. My farmers have said that we have 24/7 access to the farm; that’s the level of access and transparency we value.” Such transparency can feel unattainable to most consumers, but Arnett is hoping that will change as more people start asking for it—and even knowing it’s an option.
Buying Power
I interviewed multiple friends and family members and asked them why they don’t shop at more independent or co-op grocery stores. Cost was the number one reason they cited. It’s also independent’s biggest struggle. “We don’t want to be a store for rich people” is how Sugar Beet Co-op’s Fountain describes it. But each time a large corporation buys or opens a new store, they increase their buying power, making it that much harder for the independents to carve out competitive pricing. “We do not get the pricing that a nationwide chain would get. I’m buying 10 cases of Hellman’s mayonnaise versus 100 truck loads, so I’m not going to get the same pricing that the large scale retailers get. And that is always going to be the most difficult thing for any independent grocery store owner,” says Drosos.
Fountain hopes that smaller local stores will partner together to get collective buying power—something that is typical in most urban areas. Until that happens, independent grocers will continue to focus on other ways they can stay competitive. For Drosos, that means being in the community: “The flexibility that we have as an independent, without the corporate structure, is to our advantage. You can knock on our door, we are here.”
And I think that right there—the community connection—is what really matters. Independent grocers are living and working in our neighborhoods with us. They are here, providing the pickle maker or kombucha brewer their first break, or sponsoring the little league team. Each of the people I spoke with was extremely passionate about working at a grocery store. Fountain put it this way: “We are all neighbors. Yes, it’s about food, but what we are about is connection. And how we make that connection is through food.”
And so, my challenge for you is this: Find your local independent grocer or co-op and support them by shopping there. It really does make a difference. Your dollars have power.
