Glenn Beck: Mamdani’s new grocery store plan is as dumb as it gets

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) is championing his new government-run grocery stores, claiming they’ll bring lower prices and better access to food in underserved neighborhoods.

But Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck — as well as 50 chambers of commerce — see something very different.

“Fifty chamber of commerces voted this week to sue the city of New York. Fifty chamber of commerces. Not 50 CEOs, 50 chambers,” Glenn begins, noting that they’re suing over the $70 million being used to open five government grocery stores, one per borough.

Mamdani is promising these stores will feature a 30% discount.

“I want you to think now as a person that owns a small store or a bodega. Do the arithmetic that every bodega owner in Queens did the second they heard that. A grocery store is one of the thinnest businesses in America,” Glenn says.

“One to 2% net margin. You come with your cart, and you’re paying $100. The man behind the counter clears $1.50. The store clears a $1.50. We went to the store. I think we spent like $350. They’re making less than five bucks off of me,” he continues.

“Why? Because he has to pay the rent and the landlord. He has to pay the property taxes through that rent,” he adds.

Meanwhile, the city-run grocery store doesn’t pay any rent.

“It doesn’t pay property tax. It can’t go out of business because losing money is not failure for a government store. It’s a budget line,” Glenn says.

“One analysis this week projected the city loses about 28 cents on every dollar those stores will ring up. Twenty-eight cents in loss. So the competition is not between two grocers. It’s between a grocer and a grocer’s tax collector,” he adds.

And this isn’t the first time this has been tried in recent history.

“Kansas City ran a small version of this in 2024. The city-supported grocery store lost the state close to, I think, it was like $900,000. The nonprofit that was brought in to run it ended up suing the city over the condition of the store,” Glenn explains.

“So what would work?” he asks.

The answer, he says, is to “stop looking at collectives.”

“Feed the person, not the storefront,” he says, adding, “put money in the hands of the family.”

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