{"id":1224,"date":"2026-07-30T04:19:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T04:19:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=1224"},"modified":"2026-07-30T04:19:29","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T04:19:29","slug":"zohran-mamdanis-socialist-grocery-stores-ignore-boris-yeltsins-lesson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=1224","title":{"rendered":"Zohran Mamdani\u2019s Socialist Grocery Stores Ignore Boris Yeltsin’s Lesson"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

T<\/span>he Soviet Union was just months away from collapsing when Boris Yeltsin visited a Randalls supermarket in Houston, Texas, for a 20-minute <\/span>unplanned pit stop<\/span>. He\u2019d just been treated to a tour of NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center \u2014 an event designed to dazzle the representative from the Soviet Parliament. If he\u2019d been impressed by the mock-up space station or the groundbreaking technology he\u2019d seen, he didn\u2019t admit it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more The Dangerous Precedent Behind the Shiloh Hendrix Verdict<\/a><\/p>\n

But then he saw the Jell-O Pudding Pops in the freezer section at the grocery store.<\/span><\/p>\n

Apparently, that sight alone (and the fact that the displays in the store were filled with thousands of options at prices patrons assured him they were happy to pay) convinced him that the socialist economic model wasn\u2019t exactly everything it had been made out to be.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n

All this to say, Mamdani\u2019s little project is initially going to be quite popular.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Per a biography <\/span>written later<\/span> by Leon Aron, Yeltsin spent much of the plane ride to Miami that followed sitting motionless, \u201chis head in his hands. \u2018What have they done to our poor people?\u2019 he said after a long silence.\u201d Later, back in Moscow, Yeltsin confessed he\u2019d felt pained \u201cfor our country so rich, so talented, and so exhausted by incessant experiments.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nearly 40 years later (apparently long enough for us to forget these things), New York City Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani has announced his city is going to get five socialist grocery stores to the tune of $70 million.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier this week, he held a <\/span>press conference<\/span> in front of a tastefully arranged grocery display to assure New Yorkers that his new socialist grocery stores will be offering staple foods \u2014 fresh veggies, meat, seafood, plant-based proteins (because, of course), dairy, and eggs \u2014 <\/span> what every other grocery store in the area charges. The plan is to update prices just once a month to \u201creflect market conditions.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You and every other capitalist like you immediately see the problem with Mamdani\u2019s plan.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are <\/span>more than 5,000 grocery stores<\/span> in New York City, the vast majority of which (north of 85 percent) are owned by guys trying to feed their families, not major chains. That number, of course, doesn\u2019t include the thousands of bodegas and special ethnic markets that many New Yorkers frequent as well. Additionally, grocers <\/span>don\u2019t make a ton<\/span> of profit; on average their margins are just one to three percent on a single item.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Inside Meta\u2019s Bet on the Dignity of Work<\/a><\/p>\n

These brand-new socialist grocers, though, won\u2019t be paying taxes or even rent \u2014 the city (i.e., the taxpayer) will have that covered (kind of a big deal in New York where real estate is precious and property taxes are atrocious). So yes, they\u2019ll be undercutting the local grocers who can\u2019t keep up because they have to actually pay their operating costs, putting those grocers out of business.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mamdani, of course, insists that it isn\u2019t so. City grocery stores won\u2019t be selling alcohol, lottery tickets, hot food, or cigarettes. The small guys will be just fine, he assures us. That might be true if the small guy turns his grocery store into a full-on liquor shop, but eventually even the liquor market will be oversaturated. Provided he carries through with his plan, many of those unique grocery stores around New York will disappear.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the taxpayers will be shelling out tens of millions collectively (at least) to keep the whole thing afloat, and the city \u2014 because it\u2019s a city and governments are bad at budgeting \u2014 won\u2019t even be using that money efficiently.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Take the proposed city grocery store location in Manhattan, which will come in at 9,000 square feet and cost the city a projected $30 million in start-up costs. Per a <\/span>New York Post<\/span><\/i> analysis<\/span>, that number is four times as much as it would cost a private owner to set up a store of the same size. Meanwhile, it\u2019s expected to lose at least $300,000 a year, never mind making up that initial $30 million. One grocery chain owner in the city told the <\/span>New York Post<\/span><\/i> he could probably build 10 grocery stores with the initial $70 million the city has set aside for the project. One assumes he could also run those stores for a profit.<\/span><\/p>\n

From the point of view of the consumer, the whole thing doesn\u2019t seem so bad. The fact is, groceries <\/span>are<\/span><\/i> expensive. Remember, <\/span>95 percent of Americans<\/span> believe we\u2019re suffering from an affordability crisis \u2014 partly because rent, gas, and ground beef are coming out to a much larger percentage of their mostly stagnant incomes than they\u2019d like. Whether you think those Americans are justified in their concerns or not doesn\u2019t erase the political reality that cheaper groceries sound good to all of us. Meanwhile, taxes, for the average employee, are something you think about once a year when the government sends you your tax refund.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All this to say, Mamdani\u2019s little project is initially going to be quite popular. When his first grocery store opens next year, our YouTube feeds will be flooded with videos showcasing how cheap and how nice everything is. We\u2019ll see interviews with New Yorkers talking about what they\u2019re doing with all their extra cash. The thing will look like an incredible success \u2014 coincidentally in the year before a presidential election when democratic socialists are looking to make major headway at the polls.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When it all comes crashing down (assuming nobody stops Mamdani), the news cycle will have moved on and a New York, exhausted by \u201cincessant experiments,\u201d will be left to manage the consequences as best it can.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more How Think Tanks Should Use AI \u2026 And How They Shouldn\u2019t<\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE from Aubrey Harris:<\/strong><\/p>\n

When Homer Meets Hollywood<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Gay Couple Wanted to Abort the Baby. Now They\u2019re Suing His Surrogate Mom.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Just Defund Planned Parenthood Already<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A most wonderful article<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spectator-p-m"],"yoast_head":"\nZohran Mamdani\u2019s Socialist Grocery Stores Ignore Boris Yeltsin’s Lesson - National Logistics Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=1224\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Zohran Mamdani\u2019s Socialist Grocery Stores Ignore Boris Yeltsin’s Lesson - National Logistics Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A most wonderful article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=1224\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"National Logistics Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-30T04:19:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/?p=1224#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/?p=1224\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/af6e6ad9b3cf5bfe495dc5541ee6a5cc\"},\"headline\":\"Zohran Mamdani\u2019s Socialist Grocery Stores Ignore Boris Yeltsin’s Lesson\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-30T04:19:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/?p=1224\"},\"wordCount\":1008,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/?p=1224#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/b284bf35e1c7a29ecb95fcb85db1c775.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Spectator P.M.\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/?p=1224#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/?p=1224\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/?p=1224\",\"name\":\"Zohran Mamdani\u2019s Socialist Grocery Stores Ignore Boris Yeltsin’s Lesson - National Logistics Post\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/?p=1224#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/?p=1224#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/b284bf35e1c7a29ecb95fcb85db1c775.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-30T04:19:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/af6e6ad9b3cf5bfe495dc5541ee6a5cc\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/?p=1224#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/?p=1224\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/?p=1224#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/b284bf35e1c7a29ecb95fcb85db1c775.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/b284bf35e1c7a29ecb95fcb85db1c775.png\",\"width\":1536,\"height\":740},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/?p=1224#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Zohran Mamdani\u2019s Socialist Grocery Stores Ignore Boris Yeltsin’s Lesson\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"National Logistics Post\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/af6e6ad9b3cf5bfe495dc5541ee6a5cc\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nationallogisticspost.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Zohran Mamdani\u2019s Socialist Grocery Stores Ignore Boris Yeltsin’s Lesson - National Logistics Post","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=1224","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Zohran Mamdani\u2019s Socialist Grocery Stores Ignore Boris Yeltsin’s Lesson - National Logistics Post","og_description":"A most wonderful article","og_url":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=1224","og_site_name":"National Logistics Post","article_published_time":"2026-07-30T04:19:29+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=1224#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=1224"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/af6e6ad9b3cf5bfe495dc5541ee6a5cc"},"headline":"Zohran Mamdani\u2019s Socialist Grocery Stores Ignore Boris Yeltsin’s Lesson","datePublished":"2026-07-30T04:19:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=1224"},"wordCount":1008,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=1224#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/b284bf35e1c7a29ecb95fcb85db1c775.png","articleSection":["Spectator P.M."],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=1224#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=1224","url":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=1224","name":"Zohran Mamdani\u2019s Socialist Grocery Stores Ignore Boris Yeltsin’s Lesson - National Logistics Post","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=1224#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=1224#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/b284bf35e1c7a29ecb95fcb85db1c775.png","datePublished":"2026-07-30T04:19:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/af6e6ad9b3cf5bfe495dc5541ee6a5cc"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=1224#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=1224"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=1224#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/b284bf35e1c7a29ecb95fcb85db1c775.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/b284bf35e1c7a29ecb95fcb85db1c775.png","width":1536,"height":740},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=1224#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Zohran Mamdani\u2019s Socialist Grocery Stores Ignore Boris Yeltsin’s Lesson"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/","name":"National Logistics Post","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/af6e6ad9b3cf5bfe495dc5541ee6a5cc","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}