Balancing Mission and Margins: What Makes Healthy Community Food Stores Successful

Authors

Sara John, Center for Science in the Public Interest, Washington, DCFollow
Megan R. Winkler, Department of Behavioral, Social and Health Education Sciences, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Ravneet Kuar, Division of Health Research and Evaluation, Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Illinois, Rockford, IL
Julia DeAngelo, Departments of Health Policy Management & Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, MA
Alex B. Hill, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Wayne State University, Detroit, MIFollow
Samantha M. Sundermeir, Department of International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
Uriyoán Colón-Ramos, Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, 950 New Hampshire Avenue, Washington, DC
Lucia A. Leone, Department of Community Health and Health Behavior, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
Rachael D. Dombrowski, Division of Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies, College of Education, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
Emma C. Lewis, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
Joel Gittelsohn, Department of International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Mission-driven, independently-owned community food stores have been identified as a potential solution to improve access to healthy foods, yet to date there is limited information on what factors contribute to these stores’ success and failure. Using a multiple case study approach, this study examined what makes a healthy community food store successful and identified strategies for success in seven community stores in urban areas across the United States. We used Stake’s multiple case study analysis approach to identify the following key aims that contributed to community store success across all cases: (1) making healthy food available, (2) offering healthy foods at affordable prices, and (3) reaching community members with limited economic resources. However, stores differed in terms of their intention, action, and achievement of these aims. Key strategies identified that enabled success included: (1) having a store champion, (2) using nontraditional business strategies, (3) obtaining innovative external funding, (4) using a dynamic sourcing model, (5) implementing healthy food marketing, and (6) engaging the community. Stores did not need to implement all strategies to be successful, however certain strategies, such as having a store champion, emerged as critical for all stores. Retailers, researchers, philanthropy, and policymakers can utilize this definition of success and the identified strategies to improve healthy food access in their communities.

Disciplines

Advertising and Promotion Management | Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics | Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations | Food Security | Food Studies | Health Policy | Public Policy | Urban Studies | Urban Studies and Planning

Comments

© The Author(s) 2022. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), and indicate if changes were made (no changes were made).

Recommended Citation

John, S., Winkler, M. R., Kaur, R., DeAngelo, J., Hill, A. B., Sundermeir, S. M., ... & Gittelsohn, J. (2022). Balancing Mission and Margins: What Makes Healthy Community Food Stores Successful. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(14), 8470. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19148470