A new Rhode Island law targets contract terms that can keep a former supermarket location from becoming another food store after a chain leaves.
Here’s what to know
As The Guardian reported, Rhode Island became the second state to outlaw grocery restrictive covenants — anti-competitive provisions that can stop a new tenant from selling food at a vacated site for years, and sometimes decades.
In Woonsocket, at least three former grocery properties carry those restrictions, including a Stop & Shop vacated in 2004 and a Walmart abandoned in 2011. In a city of about 45,000 people where just one full-service supermarket remains and 37% of residents are food insecure, it’s a big deal.
Jeannine Johansen, a Woonsocket resident who volunteers with Connecting for Children and Families, said the city once offered plenty of grocery options, The Guardian reported. “You had a lot of choice, so you could shop around for good prices.”…