After eight years of development and more than $8 million spent by the city of Madison, Wisconsin, Maurer’s Urban Market will open in the Bay Creek neighborhood later this month. Local officials have pitched the store as a measure to prevent a “food desert” in that part of town. The truth: Maurer’s is right across the street from another grocery store. And within a mile of three others. How this glut came to be is a good illustration of why the government is not cut out for the grocery business....
August 13, 2026
"A Wisconsin city spent millions on a grocery store. It didn’t go well/Madison spent millions to build a supermarket across the street from another one."
An opinion piece in The Washington Post.
Posts
64 comments:
Judging by the obesity levels I've seen at the local food bank, the problem isn't food deserts, it's food desserts.
It's not just the grocery business. Name something the government does well.
“food desert”
The euphemism "if you put government in charge of the Sahara, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand" is incredibly apt here.
The whole concept of food deserts seems to be a scam. Have the do-gooders identified any place in America where a significant number of people do not have access to cars and also are not within reasonable walking distance of a grocery store?
Most food deserts that we read about have plenty of food options.
Monopolies and monopolistic practices. Obamacares light. Send in Luigi. Mario, too.
"The truth: Maurer’s is right across the street from another grocery store."
OK, so I thought maybe it was some little grocery store.
Nope, it's across the from a frickin Pick n' Save!
It's not just the grocery business. Name something the government does well.
Spend money. Fight pointless wars.
If only we had elected our divine socialist savior Francesca Hong. She would have brought food equality to all: We would all starve on Thanksgiving just like every other day.
Woohoo! Muh Food EQUiTY! (TM)
"Spend money. Fight pointless wars."
It does do both extremely well...a rare chuckle from triple-D.
Eight years. Was this started under Soglin?
I used to live in that neighborhood. Granted, it's been a long time now, but I didn't have any difficulty buying groceries. And I just looked it up; the grocery store I used, a few blocks down the street, is still there.
I live in the middle of nowhere. Food stores are somewhat distant, as I've mentioned before in many comment threads. As is anything else except local business establishments.
I'm currently visiting my son in Somewhere, FL, on the Space Coast. It's not in the middle of nowhere. It is, in fact, right in the middle of a lot. But truth be told, in time, his house is just as far from major grocery stores as mine. But, he's got more selection of major food chain stores to choose from. And, a lot more smaller specialty stores. Specialty stores, not farmstands. In the middle of nowhere we have more of those. Got one nearby (well, 20 minutes away) with an absolutely amazing variety of reasonably priced fresh seafood.
It has been a very long time since I waded into the WaPo comment section. I can't decide if the number of comments blaming the situation on unfettered capitalism is amusing or terrifying. Either way, it's sad.
@tim maguire: "The whole concept of food deserts seems to be a scam."
It largely means no modern, mainstream grocery stores in poor black neighborhoods. See why this is an issue per the Defund the Police era.
There are often smaller, older liquor stores, gas station mini-marts, and dollar stores (all of which carry some groceries) in these areas. See why per decades of cultural priorities, behaviors, and choices despite aggressive War on Poverty and DEI efforts.
Most people know the government sucks at everything, yet most people want the government to do more stuff. Human intelligence is overrated.
Grocery socialism has never failed. It's just never truly been tried. Same with every other kind of socialism. Socialism shares a name with the practice of doing the same thing over and over again, expecting eventually to get a different result.
no modern, mainstream grocery stores in poor black neighborhoods.
Because a business of ANY kind is not going to operate in an environment rife with crime, theft, vandalism, and an all over horrible environment. Not just driving off good paying customers....but losses caused by inventory walking out the door....(nice way to say theft).
A business is not a charity. If those areas want to have businesses come and stay....they need to be completely changed. It will take not just official police/government action. It will take the inhabitants of the area to wise up and shape up ....otherwise expect to live in a desert/absence of every kind of business.
You made your bed....lay in it. And it is really a shame for those good citizens that they are suffering too.
I almost completely stopped going to the grocery store, although there are many nearby. I started by ordering delivery from Walmart, but they kept adding more costs to the delivery. I still preferred it to going to the store, but then I tried Amazon. If you are a Prime member, that's the way to go. Food prices and quality are good, and free fast delivery. You just can't beat shopping on line, maybe on your phone while your out doing something else, having so many choices to compare at your fingertips. I buy nearly everything we need and want through it. I wouldn't do it, but you can order a single apple and have it delivered within 29 minutes with no delivery charge. It seems like magic. Everything they do makes it easy and fast. I like it so much it scares me. Now I'm excited, and I have to go and buy something that I absolutely do not need, but will have shortly.
In 1989 Boris Yeltsin visited a Houston grocery store remarking, "that if people in the Soviet Union were aware of the quality of the average American grocery store, 'there would be a revolution', further saying that 'Even the Politburo doesn't have this choice. Not even Mr. Gorbachev.'
The Wall came down not soon after. From Soviet mouths to Mamdani's ears, *grocery socialism* failed 40 fucking years ago.
Ethnic Springs? Iran-Hamasidol Affair?
Food stamps, etc., are simply never enough. If they get close, it’s time to open the borders and let more freeloaders in so we can also justify government grocery stores. /s Communism, the end game, is so obvious even habitual Democrat women should see it. But NO!
The commenters over there don't seem to have much to say about the content of the article, but are very interested in critiquing the byline and the paper's ownership.
What Dust Bunny Queen said @10:38 AM!
From 1936 to 1974 the USSR produced "Doctor's Sausage" as a healthy/anti-starvation food -- they then added fillers and cheapened the quality. Some thereby use this date to mark the start of the end of their economy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor%27s_sausage
The Democrat Party can't run a grocery store.
"How this glut came to be is a good illustration of why the government is not cut out for the grocery business...."
Correction: Or any business.
Socialist, by definition, can't do shit. They ruin everything they touch.
Colonial America nearly whithered and self-aborted following socialist ideology and community-prejudiced organization.
Those damn commies building grocery stores. Why the Gubmit has no reason to be doin' that. That's muh free enterprise. Posts like this get the old people out of their rocking chairs, and shakin' their canes.
In this case, the store wasn't build to solve the problem of a "food desert" it was build to prevent one. Which makes me believe there was corruption and bribery involved.
Of course, the impact on food prices due to mergers is never discussed because thats "muh free enterprise" and if you end with one or two big "Mega-store" why that'll lead to lower prices. LOL.
“Name something the government does well.”
The largest federal expenditure (by far) is Social Security. The government seems to have mastered the art of sending those payments every month.
One of the Right’s greatest blunders is calling Social Security “socialist.” Kids say “grandma needs her Social Security so I guess I’m a socialist too.”
@Earnest Prole --
East Asians fund their own retirements through massive personal savings (e.g., 35% to 45%). It'd work the same here with expectations setting and training. At least for some subpopulations.
When SS/Medicare/ACA/401k/Roth IRA comprise the rules, one must live by the rules. Or, do a Ramaswamy and seek massive changes.
Food deserts happen because of bad government policy decisions. Reduce police coverage and allow shoplifters to roam free on no bail warrants then fail to punish them and you get food deserts. Provide police patrols and put chronic shoplifters in jail for a while and amazingly, businesses thrive.
I wish we could penetrate the bubble of voters who can't see the obvious. The people who push socialism and who want it are to a person unaccomplished people with no experience sacrificing or pulling people up. They think wealth is acquired only by theft, which is why they assume theft as the way to provide for people. It's simply coveting, envy. It creates nothing for anyone, but destroys the best of things. Their leaders are grifters, every single one. If you want to be rich and powerful without creating anything, leading socialists into poverty is a well worn path.
"RideSpaceMountain said...
“food desert”
The euphemism "if you put government in charge of the Sahara, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand" is incredibly apt here.
8/13/26, 9:50 AM"
You are so correct. California put so many regulations and restrictions on pot dealers that most are finding it hard to make a living. Imagine being so inept that you can't break even dealing dope. It's always been one of the highest profit businesses around which is why it's always been so attractive to organized crime gangs.
We all laugh at the Left when they pick the wrong side of an 85-15 argument (carving up the genitals of children, for example). Fucking with Social Security is an 85-15 issue.
The problem with Social Security is obvious. It's run by the government, so it gets the predictable result, just like everything else they do: enormous waste and fraud, no intelligent risk-taking investment, and decisions made for political reasons rather than sound financial ones. The basic underlying problem is that too many people get too much from a bad, leaky system. That's identical to every other government program. What else could it possibly produce?
serious question: of the eight MILLION dollars allocated to this project, how many MILLIONS went straight into the pockets of the democrats?
"If you put government in charge of the Sahara, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand" is an aphorism, not a euphemism. And I'm pretty sure the author is Milton Friedman.
In theory there’s no difference between theory and practice.
"Fucking with Social Security is an 85-15 issue."
Agreed, but when 85% are walking toward a cliff, unpopular leadership is the moral choice. Do we really want our kids left broke? Is that all our generation will be remembered for?
I don't expect us to do the right thing. I expect us to get lucky. A.I. and automation may save us from ourselves, but it's only hope, and the risks may be worse. No way to avoid it now. We failed our way onto this path, and human nature will keep us on it. Keep hope alive.
"Not just driving off good paying customers....but losses caused by inventory walking out the door...
8/13/26, 10:38 AM"
And it's hard to keep good employees when they risk their safety every time they come to work.
Typical Democrat politicians. If they have no clue how to do something then it must be easy.
My libtard nephew is outraged at the razor thin margin of the supermarket, but delighted with the somewhat higher one at the Apple Store.
i had to go up to Decorah yesterday (think Madison, but smaller)
after my meeting, i went for a walk up above the Ice Cave, and when i got back, i saw a car with a bumper sticker saying:
***The Democrats Created and Protected***************
Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, and Welfare
**********************************************************
i wondered about this (being Decorah), then saw that the car ALSO had another sticker saying **FUCK ICE**
if not for that 2nd sticker i wouldn't have understood the point of the 1st
Earnest, I get social security. I'd much rather have been allowed to keep that money I paid into it for decades, and drop it into accounts with our financial advisor. Even in a bad year we'd have made 3x the return of our money going into SS, which is roughly 1%-3%.
Yes, government has managed to get great at sending out checks. They do so to anyone who asks. Like Somali fraudsters in Minneapolis. No questions asked, just...send out the checks.
I think most retirees just want to see that they get back something for all the years paid in. However, our younger citizens...if they knew they were getting taxed to possibly get 1% back on their money, IF the thing holds up long enough...I suspect they'd be all in on some different system.
“It didn’t go well” but the grocery store doesn’t open until later this month?
The city owns the space but is leasing it to a privately owned grocery store. That’s not your father’s socialism.
“Agreed, but when 85% are walking toward a cliff, unpopular leadership is the moral choice.”
On the funding side we’re in violent agreement — I presume you’ve already let Donald Trump know insolvency is immoral.
how much of your pay check goes to SS?
6%? 9% including the company share?
now.. IF that money went into a 401k (and insurance)..
when you got to 65, how much would be your return?
tell me, AGAIN? how social security is a "good thing" that the government does?
i will TELL YOU, the one thing the government EVER did right ( or well (or good (or whatever))), and That is:
Payroll deduction (withholding taxes)
what an AWESOME scam!
imagine, that people had to pay their own taxes, instead of having them automatically withheld.
Now, imagine ANY politician getting reelected if people had to write a check for last years government
Bezos didn't write that opinion piece, but if anyone knows about retail businesses it is Bezos.
Not that you need to be some sort of "expert" to see what is obvious to anyone with a rudimentary understanding of basic economics.
"In this case, the store wasn't build to solve the problem of a 'food desert' it was build to prevent one."
By driving private grocers out of business?
This is the same retarded idea that Mamdami wants to try with housing in NYC: Let's make it unprofitable to be a landlord!
Big Business Republicans and losertarians always want to fuck around with Social Security even though no one wants it. I suspect they do so because its the only Big Government Program that works. Its a simple transfer payment. Taxes go in - Benefits go out. And if there's a surplus its used by the General fund. If its not, the General fund makes up the difference.
The biggest supporters of "Fixing" Social Security were Mitt Romney and George Bush. That says it all.
“ The largest federal expenditure (by far) is Social Security. The government seems to have mastered the art of sending those payments every month.”
I get one of those payments every month. I try not to think about how much larger they would be if I’d been able to invest in an annuity every month rather than the SS Ponzi scheme.
If you like SS I’ve got an even better deal for you. You send me a big chunk of your paycheck every month, which I will invest in wine, women, and song. In return, *if* you live long enough, and *if* you have all your papers in order, and *if* I have any of it left, and *if* I feel like it, I *might* give you *some* of your money back.
(We seriously need italics back.)
"Big Business Republicans and losertarians always want to fuck around with Social Security even though no one wants it. I suspect they do so because its the only Big Government Program that works. Its a simple transfer payment. Taxes go in - Benefits go out. And if there's a surplus its used by the General fund. If its not, the General fund makes up the difference."
It's like magic. Imagine people who are so small-minded that they want to "fuck around" with wonderful magic.
"One of the Right’s greatest blunders is calling Social Security “socialist.” Kids say “grandma needs her Social Security so I guess I’m a socialist too.”"
There may be one or two pundits who call SS "socialism." There are approximately zero politicians who do--at least on the Right. (The left takes credit for socialist "magic").
The Right's critique of Social Security is that it takes people's money out of their paychecks, mismanages it, and then pretends to take care of the very people it took the money from by paying them pennies on the dollar using money taken from younger people.
"Because a business of ANY kind is not going to operate in an environment rife with crime, theft, vandalism, and an all over horrible environment."
True but this is in the Bay Creek neighborhood in Madison. It is adjacent to the Arboretum Althouse visits. How bad can it be.
A few quotes from the AI:
"The Bay Creek name most prominently refers to a vibrant, water-bordered residential neighborhood on the near south side of Madison, Wisconsin, nestled between Monona Bay and Wingra Creek."
"Median home sale prices hover around $432,000, reflecting competitive pricing for a central lakeside location."
"The Right's critique of Social Security is that it takes people's money out of their paychecks, mismanages it, and then pretends to take care of the very people it took the money from by paying them pennies on the dollar using money taken from younger people."
On rereading my earlier comment, I see that this is an almost perfect description of "Socialism" as practiced by both out-and-out "Socialists" and by politicians who pretend they are doing something different.
@gilbar indirectly got to my point first. The goal of supplying people with reasonably priced groceries via a government-funded store is 3rd or 4th priority.
I just looked at my 401-K, which has always been broadly and conservatively invested. The website helpfully informed me that I could withdraw $XX per month for 44 years if I retired last year (assuming arguendo that my multi-decade average ROI continued). That XX is roughly 6 times what I'm getting from Social Security, which I paid into for many many more years than that 401-K.
"The Bay Creek name most prominently refers to a vibrant, water-bordered residential neighborhood on the near south side of Madison, Wisconsin, nestled between Monona Bay and Wingra Creek."
It’s a lovely area, and people who live there can well afford Instacart and Grubhub when their Mercedes is in the shop. No one is in danger of starving.
...this has been another exciting episode of Great Failures In Central Planning....
"but when 85% are walking toward a cliff, unpopular leadership is the moral choice."
...there was a guy from Wisconsin that pushed a GREAT fix to Social Security- it updated the scheme to make it into what most people think it is now. It even gave many people the option to opt in if they were skeptical. Unfortunately people from both parties pushed him off a cliff...
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