North Columbia doesn’t have enough grocery stores. Will these city projects help?
One evening in January, more people than there were chairs for shuffled into the Eau Claire Print Building to hear city leaders talk about development in North Columbia.
New housing and new businesses have begun taking off in the corridor, and residents wanted to know what was next for their pocket of Columbia, which residents say has often felt overlooked for its low incomes and racial diversity.
The agenda ran the gamut from housing to safety, but one topic drew keen interest: grocery stores, and North Columbia’s stark lack of them.
Now, the city is launching two new initiatives leaders hope will address that long-standing grievance.
First, the city has partnered with Tom’s Creek Family Farms to launch a mobile farmer’s market that will set up at public parks and sell fresh food and pantry staples with the intention of increasing access to fresh foods in food deserts.
And second, the city is developing an incentive program aimed at North Columbia neighborhoods that leaders believe will encourage more grocers to set up shop.
A temporary fix
Both initiatives are specifically aimed at the 29203 zip code, which encompasses North Main Street and the Interstate 20 corridor, and the 29204 zip code, which encompasses Two Notch Road and North Beltline Boulevard.
The 29203 zip code has just two supermarkets, according to an interactive map compiled by the Columbia Food Policy Committee. Those stores include a Food Lion on Fairfield Avenue — about 1.5 miles from Hyatt Park — and a Piggly Wiggly on North Main Street, another roughly 2 miles past the Food Lion.
That zip code also has among the highest rates of diabetic amputations in the South, largely caused by lack of nutrition.
The 29204 zip code, too, has just two grocery stores: a Food Lion on Two Notch and a Kroger on Forest Drive that are about 2 miles apart.
The mobile market is meant as a temporary solution while the city tries to attract brick-and-mortar grocers to those areas, City Councilwoman Tina Herbert explained during a committee meeting Tuesday.
The market will consist of a portable trailer stocked with fruits and vegetables, a variety of meats and dairy products, and baked goods. The market will be stationed at various public parks in the 29203 and 29204 zip codes and will operate a minimum of three days a week and six hours per day, according to a city memo.
Customers will be able to use cash and credit cards, as well as SNAP benefits.
The market is expected to launch in January.
Grocery incentives
For a grocery store to thrive, it needs space and people, Columbia Economic Development Director Ryan Coleman told the residents at the North Columbia development meeting in January.
New development is pouring into the corridor after years of stagnant growth, and city leaders say those new residents will be a key factor in eventually attracting grocers to the area. Coleman has also said land in North Columbia is generally more affordable than elsewhere in the city.
But development may still be slow to pick up. The city’s grocer incentive program would help by giving companies a rebate on their business license fees, as well as potentially a slate of other city fees associated with running a retail business. The proposed incentive would apply only to grocery stores.
A grocery store’s annual business license fees can run between $9,000 to $22,000, depending on the scope of the store, according to a city memo.
But if a business leaves the city within a few years of receiving the rebate, it would have to repay the fees.
“Grocery stores have left and this is a way to keep our existing businesses here. There are small margins for grocery stores and any amount that we can contribute will make a great impact,” the memo reads.
The full rebate would be for new businesses, but council members also discussed offering a reduced rebate to existing businesses.
Currently, the project is being pitched as a five-year pilot program. The final details of the program are still being finalized, and it has not yet been approved by the council.
This story was originally published September 13, 2023 at 5:30 AM.
