Supermarkets are a business

Re “Filling in ‘food deserts,’” Opinion, Nov. 5

The last time I checked, markets -- whether they be Vons, Tesco or liquor stores -- are businesses, not government agencies. Yet this article has a subtext -- that stores need to service poor neighborhoods. They don’t. The reason that big food chains pulled out of these areas is blatant. The only obligation that any business has is to provide a safe environment for its employees and show a profit. Tesco will open stores where it thinks it will be successful and show a profit, not as a quasi-government agency providing social services.

Richard Holland

Studio City

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Store managers and owners have to contend with theft, graffiti, loitering and random crime. Security systems, more lighting and safe parking areas only scratch the surface. Unless the community takes a strong stand for businesses, the math of doing business at a higher cost will prevail. This eventually leads to no business at all.

Richard Alan Naggar

Riverside