Government-Run Grocery Store in Kansas City Closes

As New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani promotes the idea of city-run grocery stores, one city-owned market in Missouri closed its doors on Tuesday after years of struggling and millions of taxpayer dollars.

Local news outlets reported the doors to the Kansas City Sun Fresh market were locked that morning with a note saying the store was "unable to serve" the community.

"Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances beyond our control, we are no longer, at this time, able to serve the residents of this important community," the note read, according to KSHB in Kansas City. "It has always been our dream and passion to provide quality products and services in a safe, family environment. At this time, unfortunately, we are unable to do that."

Fox News Digital confirmed the store’s closure through a statement from Community Builders of Kansas City CEO Emmet Pierson, whose non-profit group took ownership of the market in 2022.

"Community Builders of Kansas City, through Midtown Grocers LLC, has worked tirelessly to provide food and necessary services to the urban community throughout its history," Pierson said. "Community Builders has been vocal for years about our concerns and fears regarding the increasingly insurmountable challenges of the KC Sun Fresh Midtown location – they are well-documented and well-known to the community, the media and the City of Kansas City, Missouri (the landlord of the Sun Fresh Midtown location)."

He continued, "As of August 12, 2025, CBKC is no longer able to serve the residents from this Midtown Sun Fresh location. We have no other comments at this time."

Sherae Honeycutt, a spokesperson for Mayor Quinton Lucas, confirmed to Fox News Digital that the location would be closed permanently as the city decides its next action.

"We will immediately begin working with community stakeholders, potential new private operators, and neighborhood leaders to identify sustainable solutions for the location," the spokesperson said. "Despite recent challenges to grocery operations on both sides of the state line, Kansas City's residents deserve reliable access to quality groceries, and we are committed to continuing our work with private sector actors to help fulfill this long-term community need."

The city purchased the Linwood Shopping Center where Sun Fresh is in 2016 and opened the grocery store in 2018 in an effort to provide more options for residents in the area. Kansas City spent more than $17 million in taxpayer money acquiring and renovating the Sun Fresh market.

Despite its efforts, Sun Fresh has been plagued with empty shelves and crime, leading employees to reportedly carry tasers. Last year, the Kansas City Council approved spending $750,000 in emergency city funding in an attempt to keep the store open.

Sun Fresh came into the spotlight over the last few months after Mamdani began pushing his campaign for similar city-owned grocery stores in New York City.

In a TikTok video, Mamdani said that his city-run grocery stores will "operate without a profit motive," instead of focusing on "price gouging" as he alleged some private stores do. He claimed that without having to pay rent or property taxes, these city-run stores would buy and sell at wholesale prices, centralize warehousing and distribution and be able to offer New York residents lower prices than privately-owned stores in the city.