Gather ’round my children and you shall hear,
A story that brings to Commie eyes a tear.
Where veggies, fruits, dairy, meat, products a plenty
Met socialist dreams and shelves mostly empty.
And tho this has never ONCE worked before,
KC just kept dumping the cash in the store.
There might be a lesson were one willing to learn,
Good luck with a Commie having your cash to burn.
That one lone tomato sitting in the big, empty bin,
Is silently mouthing ‘Don’t do this again.’
Wow. Kansas City Mayor @MayorLucasKC spent $29 million of tax money to open a City govt. public grocery store that has now gone bust.
When will the far left learn Socialism always fails? pic.twitter.com/HLmNMQzAZk— Melissa Tate (@TheRightMelissa) August 14, 2025
Welp.
The ten-year-long, well-intentioned, good-hearted, expensive experiment in Kansas City is officially over.
Almost exactly a month ago, I told you about how a dilapidated grocery store in a run-down shopping center had been purchased and renovated by the city to be a shining beacon of hope and, hopefully, revitalization, for the lower-income neighborhood it was located in.
It wasn’t going exactly to plan and, with the exception of a few years post its opening, never had. From a high of 14,000 shoppers a week, by last year there were barely 4000 through the doors if the city was lucky. Actually, if the non-profit the city had leased it to in 2022 was lucky, I meant.
Despite a recent $750k taxpayer subsidy, the shelves at Kansas City’s government-run grocery store are “almost bare.” It also lost $885k last year and is, unsurprisingly, hemorrhaging customers. pic.twitter.com/DjsuEr7UnJ
— Scott Lincicome (@scottlincicome) July 18, 2025
The additional emergency $750K Community Builders of Kansas City got from the city this spring went to paying invoices, leaving them $39K in the red right after cashing the check. That was without even figuring on what finding a new insurance provider and then paying that bill would additionally set them back.
You see, their old insurance company dropped them because of the rampant crime in the store and on the premises. It’s not a good area.
The grocery business in the best of times and locations is not for the faint of heart. It is most certainly not for anyone who hasn’t the first clue ABOUT or any experience at all IN *checks notes* the grocery business.
This is a rock-solid #truism.
After $29M – that’s million with an ‘M’ – from Kansas City’s coffers on the entirety of the failed grocery store/shopping center project and whatever effort the non-profit has put into the store over the past three years, they locked the doors Tuesday.
Left a little ‘sorry’ note on the glass for the few shoppers who might come by. And they basically blamed the ‘hood for the fix they were in.
As New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani promotes the idea of city-run grocery stores, one city-owned market in Missouri closed its doors on Tuesday after years of struggling and millions of taxpayer dollars.
Local news outlets reported the doors to the Kansas City Sun Fresh market were locked that morning with a note saying the store was “unable to serve” the community.
“Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances beyond our control, we are no longer, at this time, able to serve the residents of this important community,” the note read, according to KSHB in Kansas City. “It has always been our dream and passion to provide quality products and services in a safe, family environment. At this time, unfortunately, we are unable to do that.”
…”Community Builders of Kansas City, through Midtown Grocers LLC, has worked tirelessly to provide food and necessary services to the urban community throughout its history,” Pierson said. “Community Builders has been vocal for years about our concerns and fears regarding the increasingly insurmountable challenges of the KC Sun Fresh Midtown location – they are well-documented and well-known to the community, the media and the City of Kansas City, Missouri (the landlord of the Sun Fresh Midtown location).”
He continued, “As of August 12, 2025, CBKC is no longer able to serve the residents from this Midtown Sun Fresh location. We have no other comments at this time.”
And, yeah, yeah, yeah. The city’s busy looking for new ‘stakeholders’ as they are ‘committed to fulfilling this community need.’
But I notice they are now using the word ‘private’ in relation to who would actually run the store. I believe they would prefer to unload said albatross, however much they want to keep up the ‘caring’ facade.
…”We will immediately begin working with community stakeholders, potential new private operators, and neighborhood leaders to identify sustainable solutions for the location,” the spokesperson said. “Despite recent challenges to grocery operations on both sides of the state line, Kansas City’s residents deserve reliable access to quality groceries, and we are committed to continuing our work with private sector actors to help fulfill this long-term community need.”
INSANE: A city-run grocery store in Kansas City shut down due to rampant theft and empty shelves.
The city spent a whopping $18M to keep it open!
PROOF SOCIALISM DOESN’T WORK! pic.twitter.com/wE56puGVEb
— David J Harris Jr (@DavidJHarrisJr) August 13, 2025
Let me once again mention the fact that there is a police station only four blocks from this cesspit, but even if they snatch up, say, someone with a knife in the store, once that person gets downtown?
They’re usually released and on a city bus right headed to the same parking lot because woke old Kansas City has no jail. What that equates to is, short of murdering someone, should the few temporary cells they have at the office be ‘occupado,’ you get turned loose right away.
GO HOME – YOU BOTHER ME
While fauxny socialist Indians with high cheekbones, and mooching Marxist millionaires living in rent-controlled apartments – none of whom have ever contributed a thing to society or held a real day job – continue to tout the wonders of government-controlled everything, reality on the ground marches on.
Last week, Elizabeth Warren went on national TV & praised Mamdani’s government-run grocery store plan.
Yesterday, a government-run grocery store in Kansas City closed despite millions in subsidies.
Democrats need to take an Economics 101 course. pic.twitter.com/SxZpWe2QhX
— Christian Collins (@CollinsforTX) August 13, 2025
And locks the doors behind it once again.
Would the last person leaving please take the tomato?
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