How do produce stands in NYC, Montreal, and other major cities sell their items for less than most big box chains?

Question

In NYC, there are plenty of produce vendors on the street that sell aesthetic, fresh fruit for less than cost conscious mega-chains, like Wal Mart, Trader Joes, and Wegmans. The big chains have negotiating power, wholesale discounts, and economies of scale to help them profit on tiny margins. So, how is it that my small, local, fruit stand can outcompete pricewise with national chains and still stay afloat?

In: 2607

Answer 1

Note that not all small grocers use the same supply chains as the big box stores. Chinatown in NYC famously had a separate supply chain, farms growing produce just for them and not selling into the normal major commodities markets, etc. Here’s a random article discussing it, surely there is more info on the current situation available:

https://nextcity.org/urbanist-news/why-chinatown-is-so-delicious-and-why-it-might-not-be-so-forever