Full disclosure: I’m biased.
I’ve owned grocery stores. I know the challenges owners face. Competition among grocers means healthier, fresher food for consumers along with weekly price incentives. The grocery business is built on coupons, or should I say, incentives.
Since Chowan County residents face health challenges, a second grocery store must be considered a positive step in making the county’s citizens healthier. The county’s health problems should be a concern for the county commissioners. Health problems in the county should be one of the incentives for the second grocery store.
The Edenton Town Council has already adopted the incentive plan to bring an IGA operator to the county. The Chowan County Commission is still grappling with the terms of the agreement. They are concerned about the cost, even though it will not come from the taxpayers, but from the sales tax the operator pays. There is a two percent local tax on bottled water. Imagine the revenue there.
For a small town, two viable grocery stores can create better conditions for healthy living through greater choices, potentially better prices and more reliable access to food. We all know competition raises the bar.
I’m a Food Lion fan. Everyone is in eastern North Carolina. That’s the problem.
Past ventures included a California food manufacturing company, producing artisan products for grocers across the country. We had relationships with buyers representing Kroger, Cost Plus, Wegman’s Harris Teeter, Whole Foods and Tony Lucia, general manager of eight Lunardi stores in San Francisco. There’s a difference between the Food Lion’s of the industry and the independent grocer.
A second independent operator will change the food culture in the county. There will be healthy food choices and more competitive prices.
Currently, the county and the town of Edenton are the envy of eastern North Carolina. Former Bertie County Commissioner Chair John Trent had been advocating for a second grocery store in Bertie County for a decade with no results. Trent’s plea was perpetuated on only one grocery store in one of the state’s largest counties.
Chowan County, the state’s smallest county by land area, has managed to attract a second store which is a feather in the county’s cap.
In a recent conversation with Chowan Commission Vice Chair Larry McClaughlin he reiterated his support for the store. He was concerned about how to arrive at the yearly incentive number for the business.
That should not be a difficult process.
During a time when costs are escalating, affordability is decreasing and consumer incentives are on the rise, the Chowan County Commission needs to take positive approach to a second store and realize the health benefits for the residents.
If the county commissioners take the well-being of the residents — many who deal with water problems regularly, many who are suffering with health problems — into consideration when reviewing the current incentive program being drafted, they may realize it’s a small price to pay for a healthier county.
County leaders have an obligation to the residents. It’s time to approve the incentive plan and welcome a second grocer.
John Foley is a formerly retired newspaper editor and restaurateur, who currently is Managing Editor of the Bertie Ledger-Advance, Chowan Herald and The Enterprise. He can be reached via email at jfoley@apgenc.com
