The paucity of accessible supermarkets is a continuing concern in inner-city communities. Based on a survey of planners in 32 communities, this article examines initiatives to encourage grocery retail investment, reasons for the existence or absence of initiatives, and factors in successful developments. This research shows that systematic, citywide grocery initiatives are rare, with such efforts limited to particular sites or developments. Reliance on private initiatives, absence of grassroots requests for action, and assignment of lower priority to grocery stores in commercial revitalization programs explain planner inaction. Successful initiatives are characterized by political leadership, competent public agency participation, and, often, partnerships with nonprofit agencies. This article also presents recommendations for community and economic development planners to increase grocery investment in underserved areas.Over the past 5 decades, supermarkets have abandoned the inner city for suburban and exurban locations, which offered more land for parking, easier loading and unloading by trucks, convenient access to highways and arterials, and a development context for much larger stores. Lacking conveniently located supermarkets, low-income urban residents typically pay more for groceries in nearby convenience stores, spend more time traveling to distant supermarkets, and possibly incur other costs related to forgone consumption or poor food habits developed as a result (). The lack of supermarkets also costs communities in reduced job opportunities, fewer multiplier effects and entrepreneurship opportunities that grocery stores typically generate, and lower support for community activities. Furthermore, society as a whole loses out when food stamps and other government-funded vouchers return less value in smaller stores than they might at full-service supermarkets.The reluctance of supermarkets to invest in urban areas has highlighted a range of perceptions and realities related to the so-called urban disadvantage. These include concerns related to the attractiveness of markets, land assembly and readiness for development, costs associated with urban store development and operation, and regulatory contexts that can facilitate or hinder speedy development. Emerging evidence, however, illuminates the strength of urban markets in general, documents greater interest in inner cities on the part of supermarkets due to suburban saturation,

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The paper reports and reflects on an action research project to increase availability and sales of fresh produce in 26 neighborhood corner stores in Detroit, Michigan. Through analysis of neighborhood, store-related, and supply-chain characteristics, I identify factors in successful operations as well as challenges confronted by stores between 2009 and 2012, when many Detroit neighborhoods lost population due to tax foreclosure and abandonment. Neighborhood distress was reflected in challenges experienced by a majority of stores, including those that dropped out of the project prematurely (five out of seven), or participated only inconsistently (seven out of 10). Nine stores supplied fresh produce consistently. Operators with high levels of performance tended to be in zip codes experiencing population losses at a lower rate than the citywide average, be more committed to their store-neighborhood, have more experience with fresh produce sales, and be more willing to test alternatives. This paper reflects on the challenges of implementing corner store strategies in rapidly depopulating neighborhoods without ongoing subsidy. It also demonstrates the lessons in implementing them as action research projects including with students and community partners.

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