Pushback: Spending locally builds a stronger Greenfield ‘ecosystem’

Al Norman

Al Norman

BY AL NORMAN

Published: 07-15-2025 9:25 PM

In July of 2023, I wrote a Pushback column about the Benderson company of Buffalo, New York which had purchased a 6.7 acre parcel on the edge of Greenfield behind the Mohawk Trail McDonald’s. Out of state developers like Benderson, Robar and Ceruzzi are turning Greenfield into Anytown, U.S.A.

Benderson did nothing with the land for two decades, and got a $10,699 property tax break in 2023, then submitted plans for a 19,482 square foot (s.f.) Aldi’s grocery store, with a 97-car parking lot. When Taco Bell closed, Aldi’s moved its store out from behind McDonalds, which allowed it to have its own dedicated right turn lane onto Route 2 east.

The state has completed a new traffic signal at the Big Y/Route 2 entrance, yards away from another traffic signal at Colrain Road. Aldi’s said its customers would increase total traffic by 14%, to 17,660 round-trip car trips per day (3.22 million cars per year) converging on this Mohawk Trail choke point — a roadway that had 47 car crashes over a 5-year study. Greenfield’s Conservation Commission described this roadway as having “motor vehicle accidents occurring at a higher rate than the state average along heavily traveled routes with hazardous intersections.” One Planning Board member commented that Mohawk Trail traffic was “already a nightmare” — without an Aldi’s.

I warned that the new Aldi’s would “pull grocery sales from our downtown, from existing family-owned, co-op, and chain grocers. Our downtown will suffer more ‘retail leakage.’” During the 1993 Walmart debate, a study by Land Use, Inc noted that there were 9,406 s.f. of grocery stores in Greenfield’s Central Business District, vs. 188,010 s.f. of grocery stores in “outlying retail centers.” Ninety-five percent of our food store capacity was no longer in the downtown.

One Greenfield business leader recently claimed that stores like Aldi’s and Starbucks are “an important part of the ‘ecosystem.’” But studies conducted by Civic Economics over a decade show that shopping at independent retailers — such as Foster’s, Franklin Community Coop, Big Y, and Food City — recirculates 52.9% of revenue locally, compared to 13.6% recirculated by chain retailers. Aldi’s was allowed to build a store that is inconsistent with Greenfield’s 2014 Sustainable Master Plan: no low-impact design, no solar roof panels, not pedestrian friendly, and it draws shoppers from our traditional downtown.

Greenfield zoning allows developers to expand on the highway fringes of our city, drawing shoppers away from our core downtown. In 2019, the Greenfield City Council tripled our traffic threshold for requiring a Major Development Review to 3,000 car trips per day. One city councilor promised: “This will spur economic development.” But what we have “spurred” is more sales leakage. Environmentally, Aldi’s will add a net of transportation-related greenhouse gas (GHG) of 156,200 pounds per year by 2029, says the proponent’s consultant.

Benderson claims Aldi’s will add 25 jobs — but how many grocery jobs will be lost elsewhere in our over-stored grocery retail sector? According to Aldi’s career website, their new Mohawk Trail store is hiring a full-time “Store Manager Trainee” and a “part-time cashier/stocker,” who will work “fewer than 30 hours/week,” at a starting wage of $19/hour. If you stock shelves and scrub floors for five years, your wage will be $21/hour.

According to Glassdoor.com, Aldi’s employees rated the three highest negatives about working at Aldi’s as 1) “Treated quite poorly by Managers, made to work long hours, sometimes up to 12 hours (in 733 reviews.) 2) “No work/life balance. Very physical. No permanent day off. Needed to be available 7 days a week.” (in 698 reviews). 3) “Poor management and lack of care by employees on running things efficiently” (in 622 reviews.) Glassdoor says Aldi’s employees most often mention “culture” and “workplace” as the cons of working at Aldi’s.

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To keep its prices low, Aldi’s relies on its own “store brand” products. You’ll find a narrow range of most items. Aldi’s says it can save shoppers 19% on dairy purchases, and 14% on eggs. Their milk, and cottage cheese are all branded “Friendly Farms,” distributed by Aldi’s of Batavia, Illinois. Aldi’s GoldHen eggs are packed in Missouri. You won’t find Our Family Farms milk, or Diemand eggs. Aldi’s does not buy from local hero farms.

Aldi’s brags it’s the “fastest growing grocer” in America. In 2025, it will open 225 stores. “This is the most stores Aldi will open in one year in its nearly 50 year U.S. history.” For my money, I try to spend locally, which is a better way to invest in Greenfield’s “ecosystem.”

Al Norman’s Pushback column is published every first and third Wednesday of the month.