This is still a great start. It will be a long, long time before we see this happening in the hardest hit areas of the inner cities. But, still, it's a little bit of hope for some people.
I'm not as familiar with St. Louis, but area-wise, I would imaging that even building one store would be helpful to some of the poorest neighborhoods. I don't have the numbers in front of me, but a resident in one of the many Chicago food deserts would have to take several buses to reach the nearest grocery store. Just building one more centrally located grocery store would be encouraging. Unfortunately, the companies are more concerned with loss or lack of customers, depending on the food desert area (rural/inner city). Several proposals, incentives and solutions have been offered, but the costs involved aren't balancing with the potential profit.
Small, independent grocery stores are really the only option. So far, I haven't seen those same incentives offered to the smaller stores. Inventory for smaller stores is much more expensive, so incentives are absolutely necessary in order to keep the costs down enough to benefit the residents.
We need to celebrate each small step and encourage companies like this to do more. While Mayor Emanuel may not be a popular figure, his willingness to address food deserts is encouraging. While the following article seems negative, they fail to give any credit to the successes. One neighborhood improved is a positive step. I'd love to see more positive stories like yours, but just one is enough to brighten my day.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-08-28/news/ct-met-rahm-emanuel-food-deserts-20130828_1_food-desert-desert-area-healthy-food
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