Jackson Jambalaya

Grocery stores would come in droves if they didn’t think they would be robbed blind. National chains don’t hate Jackson citizens, they hate being stolen from.

Shoplifting and crime drive out businesses. It’s as simple as that.

Thanks for giving the populous of The Capitol City over a month to prepare for this momentous occasion.

Stop the shoplifting and stealing. That will do it.

Why not activate the national Guarge and the Army Reserve to police the shopping lots, and overlook the in store theft.

Oh boy, here we go.

We have a pack of dumba****s leading the City of Jackson if they don't know why…

You mean that includes Stokes.

Oh boy. I bet this was a Parkison idea. Let’s “discuss” or have a “study”. How about stop crime and boom plenty of grocery stores!

What a giant waste of everyone's time.

What a giant waste of everyone's time.

Stop all the shoplifting and they would had never left.

food deserts due to high theft..?????

Ok I'll bite, it's the natives. There, I just saved them the time of having to have a stupid meeting or town hall

Ummmm....proper infrastructure, drivable roads, safe intersections, law enforcement presence, and simply a safe city where people don't shoplift stores blind.....that would be a really good start

the state that is the runaway leader in morbid obesity now says ''where's the food''?

tell me what im missing here?

Why the spaghetti noodles not in a sealed package?

Find customers that pay for their items before you start looking for a grocery store.

See capitalism. Y'all (city leaders) ran off the stores because they couldn't afford to stay in business and make a profit after y'all ran off the good customers and replaced them with the hoodlums and dependents that are the hallmark of your liberal gimme racist politics.

If you want to attract grocery stores, STOP THE CRIME in Jackson.

What's needed is a focus group and a balloon release followed by a study funded with a $750,000 grant.

Couldn't Trump just do another executive order commanding stores to return? It would really help the GOP's approval numbers with the black community.

Prediction: here’s what will happen- the city elected officials will meet with the public, they will appear to listen, they will say they have heard the people and will consider what has been said, nothing significant will be done so that nothing changes, but everyone can feel good because the city officials listened to commoners’ voices

After many a lengthy meeting, after several community forums, the city council will come to the conclusion that Grocery Stores are, in fact, racist. /sarcasm

Here is the fundamental problem, dumbasscrats think businesses exist to provide jobs and taxes, Republicans know businesses exist to make profit for the owners. Everything else is a side effect.

Worked for Kroger for 10 years through high school and college. If I owned the Kroger on I-55 I would close it. Margins in that business are 3% to 5% at most.
Theft and low margins are killing it. The loss of all those grocery carts alone would kill most grocery stores. Also Walmart, Costco and Online Shopping hurt grocery stores as well.

Stokes ain’t missing no meals. Just follow him around to his feeding troughs.

Businesses want to make money. And everybody’s money is green. It doesn’t matter your age, race, nationality, etc. So grocery stores will gladly come if they can make money.

The problem is employee base, employee safety, shoplifting, vandalism, etc. I’m not going to open a store knowing I can’t find employees in the area because they don’t work or aren’t trainable, an employee or customer is robbed in the parking lot leading to me being sued, shoplifting is a constant problem, and a window gets busted out at 3 AM.

The solution to “food deserts” would be socialist, government-run food distribution centers. You still see them in the DPRK and Cuba. Interestingly enough, both countries have a two-tier grocery system. The one the locals use with their “special” money and the one foreigners can use with currency of a different color that is converted to foreign currency. The locals can go into the foreign currency shops but they can’t shop there with their money.
This is what Jackson needs. Stores just for EBT that Jackson stocks with staples like rice, lentils, and beans, and WIC milk.

I'll never go back to the Kroger on Old Canton Road, Ridgeland. Last time I shopped there, I struggled to thread my way through all the teenage employees congregating together in aisles filled with boxes of food they were supposed to be restocking, scrolling on their cell phones, and rudely saying they didn't know where the bread was located. That store needs new management. I suspect it is "failing", too, because fewer people are willing to deal with its incompetence and rude employees.

Sometimes stores fail because they don't restock their shelves, don't monitor their employees, and are rude to customers.

Comment at 7:01AM hit the nail on the head.

Typical profit in grocery stores is a penny or so on the dollar. That's it although the smaller, more boutique ones probably have higher margins. The problem is the grocery trend is going to big stores and there will be only a few of them in towns such as Jackson.

That means Walmarts and Krogers. You might see some Corner Markets or similar pop up but that's it. Walmart has the neighborhood market but it has chosen not to place any in Jackson.

When in school, I worked at Sack and Save and then went to the Kroger on West and Northside. Big difference as the clientele at Kroger was much poorer. The orders were much smaller. The items had smaller margins. Not many people were buying steaks, for example. They weren't buying cokes but going for the cheaper stuff. Much harder to make a profit in stores in those areas.

As for closing Kroger, I think you would be surprised how well it does. I-55 and Clinton Krogers rank very high among all Kroger stores.

Excerpt: “explore ways the City can support existing stores, prevent closures, and attract new grocery options.”

You cannot make this level of extreme stupidity in this excerpt up. It’s the crime stupid. It’s the crime stupid. It’s the crime stupid. It’s the crime stupid. It’s the crime stupid. It’s the crime stupid.

But Democrats are the Party of Crime…..and Democrats Looooooove Criminals (gotta keep that non-Democrat voter flight in place) so scratch this 2 + 2 = 4 common sense option and get some White Liberal Democrat combined with anti-semitic, Zohran Mamdani Muslim solutions on the table.

Isn’t that the truth

Exactly ! Since when can the city council tell grocery stores what to do 🙄🙄

The future of grocery shopping will be done on line mainly because of convenience for customer if they can read, write, have computer skills and have math skills. On line grocery shopping is growing slowly. Unfortunately the kids are not learning what they should to succeed in life to have skills to order on line. Thus bad things happen.

There was a Kroger on Northside Drive at corner of Hanging Moss 20 years ago. It closed because the theft was so bad crooks were hauling shopping carts of groceries out of there. Online shopping is the solution and shut all the grocery stores down. Stores make more money, it’s safer and you have to pay to get the groceries before they are picked up or delivered.. Then a lot of these problems go away.

Here comes Parkinson the egg noodle telling us Jackson needs to re-imagine grocery stores.

I just had an epiphany!! Let the City of Jackson reimburse the grocery stores for the theft and shoplifting it allows its residents to commit. Or, staff the stores with specially designated officers to monitor and arrest shoplifters. Then, have judges that issue six month mandatory jail sentences to perpetrators. Of course, that would backfire as within three months 2/3 of Jackson's population would be behind bars. Same song, second verse for every ghetto urban environment.

The 55 Kroger is practically the only large grocery store in town and I could deal with it if the store would just open enough self-checkouts to serve the customer base but it really pisses me off to wait in line to check myself out.

No desserts in the food desert.

We are approaching a point where these low-paying jobs like employees of fast food restaurants and grocery stores will be rendered unnecessary by robots. They’ll have no other skills, be unemployable, and then what to do with them? Pay them a monthly stipend to cover the cost of weed or designer kicks so they’ll stay in their own part of town?

Why do y’all care? Most of you don’t live in Jackson and if you do, you’re too afraid of black folks to leave your own house anyway.

I remember a Kroger on Raymond Rd near McDowell and the Leavell Woods store on Terry Rd. Both have been closed about 15 years. The Clinton Kroger has been trashy several years for obvious reasons.

Those of us in northeast Jackson don't notice this problem. No one mentioned Whole Foods or how close the Costco and Walmart are. There is a Kroger just over County Line Rd., on Hwy 25 and I-55 and they ALL deliver now.
That said, poor areas and aging subdivisions in every city are struggling. The key is having strict building codes and covenants, but Mississippi seems to have many of both races who don't understand why rules should apply to them or can benefit them. It's a " you can't be the boss me" toddler attitude.
Sadly, even some of the newer expensive subdivisions in MS were poorly built and corners cut by the developers. In more than one, the deterioration caused by poor lot prep/drainage and are creating " eye sores". Not everyone will notice that the trim work is puttied and stained or painted when it should be a single piece mitered at the corners or see the " spaghetti" of electrical wires in the attics , but do look before buying. Better still demand the best building codes. Or, if you are a veteran, let the VA loan inspectors loose on your contractor.

Walmart is just awful these days. Even the brick taj mahal of Walmarts in Madison is full of disgusting looking people and a trashed up parking lot. Miserable experience. I feel like a sheep when I walk in.

I think it won't be long before Walmart in a lot of places closes the store to the public and goes to drone only delivery. They already have "distribution centers" in pretty much every town in America now so it's just a matter of time. They'll be able to fire everyone but about 20 employees and have 0 theft. You'll get your groceries in 10 minutes and not have to leave your house.

Hey Kingfish. The mayor of Jackson is trying to sneak in a new director of planning and development during today's Friday, December 19thh "Special Council meeting." right before the Christmas break. The nominee is Angela Brown and has zero experience in Economic Development or Planning. Rumor has it the outgoing Chief of Staff had "dealings" with said nominee.

@9:16 you’re right I don’t care, but by all means feel free to continue to vote democrat, I mean it’s worked out so well for you guy so far.

What's next? Public meeting on the lack of tanning salons in Jackson?

@9:37 I don’t vote. Politics are for losers.

>employee safetly
Louder for those in the back of the shortbus (city council). About a year and a half before T.J. Maxx moved I heard one of the employees talking to another about getting knives pulled on them by shoplifters. And before that I knew one of the guys working at the gun counter in Academy and knew they were moving to Madison well in advance before they closed. All because they'd walk out the door with a gun and take a left. And JPD wouldn't do anything.

Not to worry, Democrats are on the case. They will have committee meetings, studies and community leaders all get together and wonder why this is happening. Then come up with crime is not causing this, grocery stores are racist.

Sadly, even some of the newer expensive subdivisions in MS were poorly built and corners cut by the developers.

Which ones? Be specific. Otherwise, bullshit.

They can talk forever but they will never mention the reason there are “food deserts”. It’s because of the culture of the places they are in. Endless crime and trouble with bums and drifters together with people who tolerate it among themselves. Along with a city government and court system that effectively encourages crime, To mention all that might be, you know, racist or something. Better just to blame businesses for being greedy and insensitive,

Stupidism reigns supreme. The Kroger in south Jackson closed because they were being robbed blind from the front and the back. Yes ! Employees were also in on it but no one was ever held to account. Same goes for the Albertsons......

Seems like I recall Kennuf once blaming a grocery store for not hiring enough security guards to keep people from stealing.

Remember when west Jackson area was upset Whole Foods moved into NE Jackson. These places study income and demographics. Not race. I live about a mile from Whole Foods my kids attend prep and I’m supposed to feel guilty bc I’m white this neighborhood is overwhelmingly white but I don’t feel guilty. I don’t like the south and west Jackson have no grocery stores but it’s not our fault.

Until the people of Jackson want better, it’s not gonna happen. With the threat of crime and lack of employees, grocery stores aren’t gonna go to the hood.

The council needs to be sure to use Other People's Money for their grocery store project and not taxPAYER dollars!

Soft on crime social justice warriors meeting to discuss why the capitalists won't invest in crime ridden areas. To paraphrase Walter Wriston, capital goes where it's most wanted, and stays where it's best treated. Meeting adjourned.

Several observations based on comments so far:
- Parkinson is a weenie.
- Walmart does have a Jackson store. It's on Hwy. 18 in south Jackson. The parking lot is crime-ridden, 2 neighbors have been robbed in the last few years.
- Kroger employees are unionized. I shop Krogers in Clinton & Jackson, always a good experience, probably because good employees care.

Thinking back to the 50s, 60s, & 70s, we never had these problems -- never had cops or 'security' to be a visible deterrence.

I wonder what the difference is now?

Some on Jxn City Council likely watching the Mamdani People's Food Mart for a Marxist business model.
My solution? Vegetable gardens and chicken houses on vacant lots in West Jackson, surrounded by 8' cyclone fencing and razor wire. Strictly user-paid operations. You wanta eat, pay a garden fee and work the row crops, shovel the chicken shit onto the row crops. Get the Hinds County Extension service to provide gardening seminars on site to paid-up gardeners, each "co-op" enterprise non-profit and tax-free but legitimately audited.
BIG PADLOCKS, SECURITY CAMERAS.

Here’s an idea, approach “someone of color” to open a grocery store in the “hood”! Somewhere in the zoo community or Ellis avenue, or Medgar Evers…
Even better, have Kenny Stokes open a grocery store in his area! Big Kenny would be throwing bottles and rocks at those stealing his stuff! There’s a reason the “stores” aren’t there!

Closing off resources in poor neighborhoods just pushes people farther into your neighborhood for basics and yeah, plenty end up over here stealing in the suburban stores bringing the same issues chains claim they're fleeing. It's self-defeating, insanity loop to close down all the businesses then complain about how the "ghetto" is showing up at the new grocery stores.

The "Co-op" model means lazy folks possibly go hungry and die in the weeds on the side of the road for Kim Wade to pick up.
That's how life and death works, which the (feud dezert) City Council doesn't acknowledge. They, excepting Ashby Foote, believe government intervention can rehab the labor to food to mouth equation, long established in America since Plymouth Rock Pilgrims learned freeloaders will eat their neighbor's "community" corn and pumpkins without earning any of it. Why do we need redundant lessons in that failed socialist model?

Third world cities need third world solutions. Swap meet style street markets selling bush meat and vegetables, homemade booze, and second hand clothes.