The last five years have aged Alabama grocer Jimmy Wrightlike they were two decades. It started with COVID. And then inflation – including the “great egg debacle,” as Wright called the recent price spike.
Now, he and other grocers are facing a new challenge: cuts to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), better known as food stamps.
SNAP helps lower-income families in the U.S. pay for groceries — which in turn, means business for grocery stores. For many independent grocery stores, SNAP makes up the bulk of their sales…