This episode of 99 Percent Invisible does a deep dive on the Robinson-Patman Act, which was passed in 1936 in response to unfair pricing practices by the A&P supermarket chain. The episode begins in Woonsocket, a food desert with just one grocery store located miles from many residents who rely on meager robust public transportation options in the city.
Why the Robinson-Patman Act matters
For many decades, enforcement of Robinson-Patman meant that consumers had lots of choices when it came to groceries. Independently-owned stores coexisted with larger national brands. But beginning in the 1970s, an anti-antitrust sentiment arose. (Spoiler alert: this was largely fostered by Robert Bork. Yes, that Bork). Under the Reagan administration in the 1980s, the feds simply stopped enforcing the Robinson-Patman Act.
Around that time, Walmart entered the grocery space, where the charge was to get bigger faster “because the faster you grew, the quicker you could leverage your size over your suppliers.” The 1990s brought “a massive merger spree,” as national supermarket chains gobbled up independent, local and regional grocery stores. These smaller stores were charged more by suppliers to make up for the discounts that the big chains extracted. There was simply no way they could compete in this environment.
As the 99 Percent Invisible episode makes plain, Woonsocket is a perfect example of the egregiousness of corporate greed enabled by the government’s abandonment of Robinson-Patman. Walmart moved into Woonsocket in 1994, helping to drive the multitude of grocers that used to serve city residents out of business. Soon enough they closed the Woonsocket store in favor of a North Smithfield location, undoubtedly more profitable. And they imposed a deed restriction on the Woonsocket property, preventing another grocery store from operating in that location.
The cumulative impact in our neighborhoods
This is still happening. When many supermarket chains sell their properties, they attach a restriction to the deed that says the property can’t be used to sell fresh food for decades. Ever wonder why you see so many vacant supermarkets just sitting there empty? These “scorched earth covenants” are why. It’s not exactly easy to put a property with a supermarket footprint to another use.
So what are the results of these kinds of actions on people and places?
- Residents don’t have easy access to healthy, affordable food.
- Fewer grocery options mean less competition, which means higher prices for consumers.
- Neighborhoods are left with large, empty, abandoned properties with restrictions making their logical reuse almost impossible.
- Those properties are usually surrounded by large asphalt parking lots, making them potential heat islands and causes of stormwater runoff.
- Businesses surrounding the closed grocery store are dragged down
State and federal policy options to turn the tide
Local Return works with our partners in Small Business Rising, a national coalition of independent business organizations representing more than 250,000 small businesses, on antitrust policy. Most recently, we co-signed a letter in support of Senator Cory Booker’s bill to strengthen state enforcement against predatory buying.
At the state level, we were proud to support two bills before the General Assembly last session that would have promoted competition. Initiated by Lieutenant Governor Sabina Matos, S991/H5552 would’ve allowed for local enforcement of Robinson-Patman Act violations, and H5902/S970 would prohibit the use of restrictive covenants related to grocery stores, except when the store is relocating within a half mile of its original location, and then only for 18 months. The General Assembly chose not to pass these bill in 2025, but we hope they advance in the future. In the meantime, we’ll continue to advocate against this kind of corporate extraction from our neighborhoods.
