New York City grocers say sales at their stores dropped by as much as 25% last week because of delayed food assistance benefits due to the federal government shutdown.
Gothamist spoke to seven grocery store managers from across the five boroughs who said they ordered fewer items to avoid waste, lowered prices to help clear their inventory and sometimes even paid out of pocket to help longtime customers get enough to eat.
With the government now reopened after the longest shutdown in the nation’s history, the benefits are expected to resume in full, bringing relief to recipients and grocery store owners. But another round of turmoil could arrive by March for participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program who fail to meet new work requirements and could lose their benefits.
“I felt for them, these are people that are disabled and some can’t work," said Edward Montalvo, who manages Food Dynasty Supermarket on Staten Island. "One lady was ready to cry and left the store because she couldn’t get her food."
New York state began reissuing food assistance benefits Sunday after a weeklong delay. But a dizzying legal battle between states and cities and the Trump administration over benefits left recipients in a precarious place. States were given conflicting guidance by the Trump administration: first to calculate partial payments, then to give out full benefits and later to “undo” those distributions.
Adding to the confusion, SNAP recipients shopping with benefits left over from October last week reported some grocery stores refused payments from the program, according to the New York attorney general’s office. Attorney General Letitia James in response sent cease-and-desist letters ordering businesses, including grocery chain ShopRite, to accept the payments. SNAP benefits are loaded onto debit-like cards known as EBT.
Grocers said they’re optimistic shoppers will return now that the shutdown is resolved. But they said the last week-and-a-half was difficult for their communities.
“I’ve noticed myself that EBT is essential in New York City, a lot of people can’t live without it. We witnessed it first hand, made a big difference,” Montalvo said.
SNAP purchases can make up more than half of sales in some low-income neighborhoods, according to the National Grocers Association trade group. Some store owners said the percentage can be as much as 85%. They noted sales usually dip mid-month, once customers exhaust their monthly benefits and have to pay out of pocket or can’t afford any more groceries.
Cesar Diaz, who manages a C-Town in the Bronx, said he expects sales to flip this month as benefits start to trickle back higher toward the last two weeks of November. He said on the first day SNAP benefits resumed sales increased by thousands of dollars. About half his sales come from SNAP payments.
More than 1 million households in the city rely on the program, a number that’s growing at a quicker pace than the city’s total population is, Gothamist previously reported. The increase in SNAP recipients has disproportionately affected the grocery-store ecosystems in low-income neighborhoods.
During the disruption, some grocers said they ordered less produce and meat so the items wouldn't expire, or lowered prices on items to get rid of them before they went bad.
“We had to slow down a little bit, we did have some of the fresh items we did have to price down, so we could get them out, so we didn’t have to lose it,” Diaz said.
Diaz added that he helped some of his customers pay their groceries when they realized they didn't have enough at checkout. “At the end of the day we’re here for the community,” he said.
Grocers said they’re giving back in other ways, too, working with local schools on grocery coupons, donating to local organizations and even offering discounts for all their customers so they can afford to fill their fridges for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.
Food policy advocates worry SNAP recipients will lose their benefits again next year because of a program overhaul signed by President Donald Trump this summer. The law added new employment requirements for more groups of recipients, and those who fail to meet the rules can only receive three months of benefits every three-year period. The National Grocers Association said it expects the rules to cut SNAP purchases by 10% annually.
“Margins are not high like in other businesses,” said Yusif Alomeri, a manager at Prospect Market in Park Slope. “We try to meet the neighborhood and their needs. We’re not trying to gouge or raise prices for no reason.”
Juan Jimenez, who manages a Cherry Valley Marketplace in Elmhurst, said he gave the store’s security guards a few extra hours last week because of shoplifting concerns, but had to cut hours for other employees because of a 20% drop in sales this month. He said even when people get their benefits, there’s another problem that’s depressing small food businesses.
“When it’s announced there are [immigration] raids or enforcement in certain areas, people get scared and they hide,” Jimenez said. He said fears over raids are keeping more people home and sales have dipped since January, even before the government shutdown.
“One thing is not having food stamps that affects people, but the other thing, especially in this area, is immigration,” he said.
