California Law Targets Grocery "Food Deserts" Left Behind by Store Closures
California's AB 1857, the Grocery Store Access Act signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, takes aim at a longstanding industry practice: when a chain supermarket closes or relocates, it often writes a "restrictive covenant" into the property deed barring any future grocery store at that address, sometimes for decades. The new law, signed Sept. 30, creates a legal process for communities to petition for removal of such covenants, clearing the way for a full-service grocer to move in. Supporters point to Vallejo, where after Safeway closed its downtown store, a deed restriction kept the site without a grocery store for 15 years. In concentrated food markets, large chains can exit a neighborhood yet still block competitors through the deed, leaving residents, many of them low-income, driving long distances or relying on small, expensive stores in so-called food deserts. Backers say the point is simple: a store closing should be the start of finding the next store, not the end of the conversation. Many Southern California neighborhoods know the problem firsthand, and GSM will follow how the removal process is used in practice.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 配图：超市货架（Pexels 免费授权图，自托管）/ Grocery shelves, via Pexels (free license), self-hosted
