City Owned Grocery store

Sun Fresh city owned store in KC
The Sun Fresh Market grocery store in Kansas City, Missouri, has faced significant challenges since its opening in 2018. Despite being part of a revitalization project and receiving millions in taxpayer dollars, the store has struggled with empty shelves, rancid odors, and crime issues. The City of Kansas City owns the shopping center where the store is located, and it has invested heavily in security and maintenance. However, the store's operators have stated that the environment, not management, is the primary reason for the store's decline in customer traffic.

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DogMan · 61-69, M

Kansas City grocery store faces closure after $17M investment, crime surge and bare shelves threaten survival
July 22, 2025 1:38 pm by Alex Mark
Kansas City is staring down a failed experiment. Nearly a decade ago, the city spent $17 million to buy and renovate the Linwood Shopping Center on Prospect Avenue. The anchor tenant, Sun Fresh Market, opened in 2018 with fresh produce, seafood, and a full-service deli. It was supposed to end the food desert. It’s now on life support.

The store lost $885,000 last year. Shelves are bare. Refrigerators sit empty. Foot traffic collapsed from 14,000 weekly to under 4,000. The city injected $750,000 in emergency funding this spring. That money was meant to restock inventory and fix broken air conditioning. It hasn’t reversed the trend.

Crime is the core issue. Police reports show assaults, robberies, and shoplifting in the immediate area have climbed every year since 2020. Shoplifting cases nearly tripled. Security footage shown at a public meeting last year included a naked woman throwing chips, a man urinating in the vestibule, and a couple having sex on the library lawn in broad daylight. The store’s nonprofit operator, Community Builders KC, says the environment—not management—is driving customers away.