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Grocery owners and unions tell council soda tax shifted sales across borders and pressured jobs
Summary
Retailers, bottlers and union representatives told a council hearing the 2017 beverage tax redirected sales to suburban markets, reduced in-city beverage volume and in some cases reduced hours or closed stores. Industry witnesses said large buyers can adapt while smaller neighborhood businesses and low-income shoppers bear the cost.
PHILADELPHIA ' Owners of city grocery chains, bottling franchise executives and union leaders told the Committee on Labor and Civil Service that the 2017 sweetened beverage tax changed where Philadelphians shop and that shift led to lost in-city beverage sales and workforce impacts.
Jeff Brown, founder and executive chairman of Brown Superstores, which operates ShopRite and other chains in and around Philadelphia, said his stores near the city's border lost volume to suburban competitors: "A lot of my business went to my competitor because peep people, they're not rich here in Philly. They struggle to pay their…
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