DALLAS — On a typical Saturday afternoon, Malone’s Cost Plus in the Pleasant Grove community would be packed with shoppers. But these days, store employee Evelyn Garcia says the aisles are quiet.
“Saturdays and Sundays are usually our busiest days,” she said. “Now this is low, like you can see it, nobody’s here.”
Garcia says the emptiness mirrors a larger issue: federal SNAP food assistance delays. Many of her customers rely on those benefits to buy groceries, and the ongoing funding battle in Washington has left them waiting…