It is deeply troubling that the only Black-owned grocery store on Milwaukee’s north side is now at risk of closing, just six months after Pick ’n Save shut its doors. Now residents are facing yet another blow: Aldi has announced the closure of its northwest side location, giving the community just a two-day notice. This is not an anomaly. It is a pattern.
Each closure widens the food access gap and deepens food apartheid across our city. When corporations exit neighborhoods like ours, they do so quickly and quietly, protecting their bottom lines, not community stability. Short notice is not accidental, it is strategic. It limits public response, avoids accountability, and leaves residents scrambling to meet basic needs.
It is no coincidence that this pattern is repeatedly seen on Milwaukee’s north and northwest sides where the majority of Black people live. In 2023, Walmart closed its West Silver Spring Drive location on the northwest side, a store that was a lifeline for many. Three years later, there is still a void in the community and nothing left but an empty building that says “now leasing.”…