Jacquie Ormo used to look forward to her trips to the supermarket.
She bought groceries at a Stop & Shop that was just five minutes from her apartment building in Worcester’s Lincoln Village neighborhood. It was especially convenient because she doesn’t drive and is disabled, so she uses a mobility scooter to get around.
But now, the Stop & Shop sits boarded up after closing nearly a year ago. There’s no other supermarket in the area. That means Ormo sometimes has to take the bus.
The trips usually take more than three hours.
“It’s inexcusable,” she said. “When you’re old and disabled, it wears on you, both emotionally and physically.”
Many Worcester residents can relate. According to U.S. Census data, 48% of people in the city have low access to healthy food. The problem has become especially acute over the past year as multiple supermarkets have closed, forcing people to rely on expensive Uber rides or long bus trips to find fresh produce and seafood.
“It’s an equity issue,” said City Councilor Jenny Pacillo, who represents Ormo’s neighborhood. “I can get in my car and drive to a Market Basket. But when you’re in an area where a lot of people don’t drive or have access to a car like Jacqui … to take away a full-service grocery store has such a huge impact on their lives.”
Multiple buses and long waits
Ormo is in her 70s, disabled due to degenerating disks in her back, and lives off social security payments. She’s like a lot of people in her neighborhood, where household budgets are tight and many people don’t own cars.
She recently demonstrated how losing the local supermarket has impacted the community, which includes Worcester’s largest public housing complex, Great Brook Valley.
There’s a Shaws on West Boylston Street that’s just a 10-minute drive from Ormo’s apartment. However, because there’s no direct bus route to the Shaws — or any other supermarket around the city — Ormo had to ride the bus to Worcester’s central station downtown and then transfer to a second bus.
Boarding the buses was difficult for her. It took several minutes to drive her scooter on and position it in a way so it didn’t block the main aisle.
“It’s frustrating because the people behind me have to wait to get in,” she said.
Sometimes Ormo will catch a ride with a friend or family member. Her health insurance also pays for a transportation service that drives her places. Still, the insurance only covers the rides so often, and Ormo doesn’t like to impose on friends, so she relies on public transit when she has no other option.
It took Ormo nearly an hour and a half to make it to the Shaws. Inside, she tried to save time, quickly grabbing everything on her shopping list, plus some scratchoffs — a guilty pleasure, she said. She then headed to the bus stop for the trip back. While waiting, she admitted all of the movement was starting to cause her pain.
“Once I go home, get everything put away, I’ll [take a nap] for an hour or two,” she said. “I’ll take Tylenol and put a pain patch on my back.”
'Get a store up here’
City leaders agree Worcester needs more supermarkets in certain areas.
City Manager Eric Batista has said he tried to persuade Stop & Shop to keep the Lincoln Plaza location open, because it served residents with few other options. The company refused, saying the closure was necessary to improve its performance.
The neighborhood still has an Aldi and a Target, but residents say prices are higher at Target and Aldi doesn’t offer everything they need.
Adding to Worcester’s shortage of grocery stores, a Price Chopper on Cambridge Street closed earlier this year after 22 years in business.
And even before the recent closures, options were limited. Worcester, New England’s second largest city, doesn’t have a Market Basket, Trader Joe’s, Roche Brothers, Whole Foods or Wegmans — stores that are common elsewhere in Massachusetts.
Pacillo, the city councilor, believes big chains are shying away because Worcester’s tax rate for businesses is more than double that of other Massachusetts communities.
“If I owned a large business, like a Market Basket, and I’m looking at Shrewsbury’s commercial tax rate and Worcester’s commercial tax rate, I would go to Shrewsbury,” she said. She noted that Worcester keeps its commercial tax rate higher in order to charge less in residential taxes.
To address the shortage of supermarkets, Pacillo and Batista believe Worcester could partner with local nonprofits to open a community grocery store focused on need, not profit.
A city spokesman said officials have been meeting regularly with a group of community partners to explore ways to expand access to retail grocery options. A report on the issue will go before the Worcester City Council Oct. 21.
Pacillo said she also wants the Worcester Regional Transit Authority to modify its routes to provide more direct access to a supermarket. The WRTA says it’s considering how to redesign its system.
For Ormo, a solution can’t come soon enough. The trip to the Shaws ended up taking three hours and four minutes.
Back at her apartment, she quickly put away her groceries. Before taking that long-awaited nap, she issued a final plea.
“Please Worcester, get a store up here,” she said. “Every area of the city should be covered.”
