Jeffery Brown Of ShopRite: Because Of Soda Tax 4 Of Our Stores Are Unprofitable
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- An owner of seven grocery stores in Philadelphia says the Soda Tax is making his stores unprofitable.
"Out of our seven stores, four are unprofitable right now, and I have the burden of deciding if I can keep all these stores, How long can I go and absorb that loss," Jeffrey Brown, owner and operator of Brown Super Stores, told The Rich Zeoli Show. "The sad news is that all four of the stores are in food deserts, where if I close the people will have no other place for fresh affordable food, and the government doesn't seem to really care about that."
Brown also shot back at Philadelphia's Mayor Jim Kenney after claims that he is "crying wolf."
"He has absolutely no idea, he's a career politician, that hasn't accomplished very much in his career," Brown said. "I have nothing against him but his policy [Soda Tax] is destructive."
One of the seven stores Brown mentioned has just opened on Monument Road in the Wynnefield Heights section of the city.
"These stores take years to put together," Brown said. "I've been working on this store on Monument Road for years, and we finally get it open to find out its doing 25 percent than its supposed to, because of this beverage tax. What he has effectively done is make my business impossible on Monument Road."