Dive Brief:
- New York City has chosen four branding and design firms to develop a visual identity for the city’s planned fleet of municipally owned grocery stores, the New York City Economic Development Corp. and Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced last week.
- The consortium will help the city “create a cohesive and vibrant brand identity that resonates with New Yorkers, reflects the character of the city’s food retail landscape, and makes each store recognizable, accessible, and welcoming,” according to the announcement.
- The city is proceeding with the controversial plan to develop five grocery stores — one in each of its boroughs — as it faces lawsuits alleging that the stores would harm independent food retailers.
Dive Insight:
Gander, a branding agency the economic development corporation said has “deep expertise in the grocery space,” will lead the consortium of firms that will work with the city to build a visual identity for the N.Y.C. Groceries project. The firm will oversee aspects of the project including research, strategy, naming and brand development.
The other branding and design companies selected for the project include Librarie, which will serve as co-lead on brand positioning. Noble Signs, which specializes in signs for public spaces, will help ensure the brand “feels authentic to the city,” while Seven Roots, which works on design and development projects for independent grocers, will serve as a food retail advisor and help integrate the city-owned stores’ brand with the retail environment where they will operate, the Tuesday announcement noted.
Mamdani announced in May that New York City intends to debut the first of the five grocery stores next year at a site in the Bronx. The city has also identified a site in upper Manhattan as home for one of the stores. All five of the stores are due to open by the end of Mamdani’s term as mayor.
The city and the economic development corporation are seeking “qualified grocers or firms” to operate one or more of the stores. Mamdani pledged to develop the stores during his campaign for mayor last year, describing the project as part of his plan to address affordability issues in the city.
Mamdani said earlier this year that the city plans to guarantee customers a 30% discount on essential goods like eggs, milk, chicken and fresh produce.
In August, a group representing smaller grocery stores in the city took legal action in a bid to block the N.Y.C. Groceries project. The Multicultural Business Coalition alleged in one of two state lawsuits that the stores would force many minority-owned grocers out of business. The second lawsuit claims that the municipal grocery store program violates its members’ civil rights under New York state law.
Last month, a group including the National Supermarket Association and two New York City grocery store operators filed a federal lawsuit requesting an injunction to halt the grocery store project, Courthouse News Service reported. The suit claims that the N.Y.C. Groceries program would be a monopoly because the stores would offer discounts supported by tax revenues.
Mamdani defended the city’s grocery store program during a July 27 news conference. “I continue to be fully confident in both the legality and the importance of our initiative to deliver five city-run grocery stores,” he said.
