Santoni’s Super Market, which has operated in the Highlandtown section of Baltimore since 1930, has closed its doors, effective October 23.
According to Rob Santoni Jr. who was the CFO and general manager of the 28,000 square foot unit (the store was owned by his father Bob Santoni and his uncle Paul Santoni), the City of Baltimore’s beverage tax was the sole reason the business failed.
The younger Santoni noted that since the beverage tax levy went into effect in July 2010, his store has realized a total sales loss in excess of $4 million (18 percent of total revenue) and that sales in the store’s beverage category declined 28 percent. Santoni also stated that customer traffic count decreased 20 percent. Additionally, Santoni’s will lay off more than 80 employees.
“The damage done by the beverage tax is irreversible and proves that Baltimore retailers were right all along (in aggressively opposing the bill’s passage),” Santoni declared.
The original 2-cents-a bottle tax was implemented in July 2010. Last year the city council, with the strong support of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, voted to increase the tax to 5-cents-a bottle and make it permanent.
The Highlandtown store on Eastern Avenue was close to the original Santoni’s Market, opened by Rob Santoni’s grandfather, Savino, in 1930. It has served thousands of families in the tight-knit but evolving section of East Baltimore for the past 83 years. The supermarket’s closing also means that the independent retailer will end its “Virtual Supermarket” program which provided fresh food to underserved “food desert” communities via Santoni’s on-line shopping service. Santoni’s will also cease operations of Baltimore’s only free supermarket shuttle service which transported individuals living in food deserts to and from their store.
“The mayor has refused to listen to small business leaders. She is stubborn and will not admit that the beverage tax was a wrong decision on her part. Her insistence that Baltimore retailers carry this burden has not only cost my family our business, but the jobs of my employees. What has taken 83 years to build has been torn down by one person and one bad law. The mayor’s political arrogance is appalling. She obviously does not possess certain skills needed to run this City. The city has lost a great retailer and the Highlandtown community is losing a passionate and charitable partner.”
Following Santoni’s announcement of his store’s imminent closing, Mayor Rawlings-Blake released a statement defending the tax.
“I’m deeply saddened to learn that Santoni’s Super Market will be closing. Linking its closure to the bottle tax may be a good sound bite, but it doesn’t square with the facts,” the mayor said in a statement released through her office. “By the supermarket’s own admission, business struggled in recent years, which isn’t surprising given the depths of the nation’s recession and its impacts on local governments and businesses. My administration supports small businesses, which is why we worked in partnership with Santoni’s to establish our nationally renowned Virtual Supermarket program that has provided healthy food choices to low-income residents and drove additional customers to the supermarket.
“It’s important that we not lose sight of the facts. The beverage tax was critical to helping Baltimore close a massive budget deficit without cuts to city services and provided a dedicated funding stream to help secure a historic investment of $1 billion in school construction funds. No one likes tax increases, but kicking the can down the road when it comes to our financial solvency and investing in our children is not an option.”
Santoni’s said he hopes to find a local buyer for the store.
