For years, the sizes of grocery stores have grown increasingly to provide a greater variety to the consumer. Andrew Martin explains why retailers have now begun opening smaller stores instead.
"The idea is to lure time-starved shoppers who want to pick up a few items or a fast meal without wandering long grocery aisles or paying restaurant prices."
"The opening of smaller stores upends a long-running trend in the grocery business: building ever-larger stores in the belief that consumers want choice above all. While the largest traditional grocery stores tend to be about 85,000 square feet, some cavernous warehouse-style stores and supercenters are two or three times that size.
Statistics compiled by the Food Marketing Institute show that the average size of a grocery store dipped slightly in 2007 - to a median of 47,500 square feet - after 20 years of steady growth."
FULL STORY: Miles of Aisles for Milk? Not Here
Making economic sense of city-owned grocery stores
Several cities are moving to create municipal stores, but do they actually save low-income households money?
NYC's first city-run grocery store coming to the South Bronx
City-owned grocery stores were one of Mayor Mamdani's campaign promises.
How Smaller Supermarkets Could Transform American Communities
Bigger is not always better.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
Brightline West’s future may rely on $6 billion federal loan
The company has until Nov. 2 to make a $400 million equity investment into its proposed high-speed rail line.
LA Metro’s ultimatum: no extra buses for LA28 if federal funding isn’t imminently secured
If Metro does not provide additional buses, LA28 organizers will have to find a new way to manage Olympic traffic. LA28’s budget does not include a line item for transit.
Colorado’s Largest Data Center Could Rise Next to Homes — Without a Public Hearing
The proposed campus would consume 11 times the power of Denver International Airport; as it has across the country, opposition mounts.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association