Marc's Closed In Kettering! Food Deserts In Dayton Continues!

Food deserts in Dayton. Marc's closes its sole Dayton location.

I haven't watch local news in a while. Somehow working two jobs is exhausting.

While passing through Kettering, I noticed that Cleveland-based low price grocer Marc's has permanently closed its only Dayton location. The company announced it was closing its location in early January and finally shut its doors in early February.

The company did not give a reasonable excuse other than its lease was up. The company does not talk to the press regardless of the controversy.

It leaves that area without a grocer and also immediately a vacant lot. 

In other words......

I know some folks from the Dayton area will relate to the plague that haunted this community. 

Food deserts. 

It happens to be a chronic issue in the Dayton area as well as some of its neighboring suburbs. I doubt Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH), Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) and Republican governor Mike DeWine will be concerned. They're too busy trying to troll President Joe Biden and Democrats over that East Palestine train derailment and the Chinese "spy" balloon.

Biden had addressed food deserts and ordered Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to find solutions to helping rural and urban America get quality foods.

So Kroger decided to close its location in 2018 and move it to the Cornerstone of Centerville. It places two Kroger stores in Greene County, three miles from one another.

The original location was replaced with Marc's. I was a frequent shopper there. The last time I visited that store was in December. I guess somehow, Marc's decided that Dayton was not a viable market so they decided after five years, its time to pack it up and leave.

The cause and effects of corporate America, the poor and middle class and a country emboldened on social ills as an excuse.

My parents justify grocers closing because of crime. Shoplifting and bad neighborhoods are not really an excuse in my opinion. I believe it's a cop out. These places make millions of dollars.

Walmart and Kroger make billions of dollars. They just want build new stores to suffocate smaller grocers like Marc's and local stores. They build these mega stores in areas to drive out competition. Eventually Dollar General, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree will be the only businesses there to suit the needs of the poor and middle class in impoverished neighborhoods.

West Dayton does not have many grocery stores. The only grocery story in West Dayton with a national brand is Save-a-Lot. The closest grocer, Kroger is located in in an unincorporated suburb of Fort McKinley, a part of Harrison Township. Walmart is eight miles in Englewood, six miles in Moraine and ten miles in Butler Township.

Then there's Naboli's, H&L, Estridge Grocery and Westside Supermarket. They are IGA affiliate stores.

Also People's Market is located on Main Street in Dayton. Then the Gem City Market which is the cooperative grocer that has struggled since opening. Foodtown in the unincorporated community of Drexel is the closest grocer in Trotwood. 

Gordon Food Services for the time being is the only bulk grocer in Trotwood.

What I notice is the lack of transportation to these grocers in the suburbs. 

The Greater Dayton RTA has consolidated routes due to lack of ridership and staff to operate buses. They have partnered with Butler Township to make its two routes a layover at the end of Walmart's parking lot. They have two routes at a layover at Meijer in Huber Heights. 

The RTA does not have many connections to grocers in Beavercreek, Englewood, Centerville and Bellbrook. These communities fought against bus routes. 

That's why they cut a regional route that provided a direct connection from Trotwood to Centerville. 

They made the route a weekday route to Centerville with no service on Saturday or Sunday. They consolidated a local route near The Greene and Kettering to now provide direct connection to Trotwood but avoids its terminal hub three miles from its layover.

It is a real problem in the rust belt. We can blame crime, deindustrialization and white flight for some of the reasons. We can also say poor leadership from Democrats and Republicans. We can say corporate greed and urban sprawl. We can say leasing and viable areas. We can have excuses all day long.

No real solutions to solve this. It is pointless finger pointing and deflection.

Kettering will hopefully find a grocer willing to replace Marc's. It will be a challenge.

I get the feeling that Dollar General Marketplace will be filling the void. Ohio state officials are suing the company for deceptive pricing.