Daily Table (https://www.dailytable.org/) is a nonprofit organization that operates grocery stores “making nutritious, quality food affordable for everyone.” It was established to bridge the gap between free food resources and traditional retail grocery stores providing high-quality food at low prices designed for even a SNAP or food stamp budget. They paid a living wage and prioritized hiring from the neighborhood they service.
Now they are going out of business.
Founded by Doug Rauch, former president of Trader Joe’s, they were founded in 2013, opened their first store in 2015 in Dorchester, MA, and have expanded to four stores in Boston, Cambridge, and Salem, MA. They served over 10,000 customers per week, a quarter of whom used SNAP benefits, and over 3 million customers, returning over $16 million in savings to the community, over the lifetime of the enterprise [2024 figures].
The Board wrote:
The past several years have been particularly hard; navigating the challenges of COVID-19, plus the pressures of facing historically high levels of food price increases, to the current uncertain and difficult funding environment, sustaining Daily Table has become increasingly difficult. Without immediate funding to bridge us through 2025, we cannot continue. After careful consideration, we have come to the heartbreaking conclusion that we can no longer continue operations.
One staff member blamed “tariffs” as well.
I have shopped at one of their stores since it opened in my neighborhood. It is always a friendly place where many neighbors meet, with a courteous and generous staff, and good food, particularly fruits, vegetables, and staples, at good prices.
So this is personal.
More on the closure of one local branch:
https://www.cambridgeday.com/2025/05/09/daily-table-is-closing-abruptly-in-central-square/
“It's such an old-fashioned term but a beautiful term: groceries… It sort of says a bag with different things in it."
Dnld Trmp
