Inner City Turmoil
In recent years the marriage between supermarkets and inner cities has flowered as retailers have rediscovered underserved neighborhoods. But store-community relationships were far different in the late 1960s, when inner city race riots created dangerous situations. One byproduct was a crisis over the lack of insurance for inner city stores.
A presidential panel was formed to create a plan to "pump business confidence into the nation's ghettos" by addressing the "intolerable lack of insurance for slum-based stores," according to a Jan. 29, 1968, issue of SN.
The report issued by the panel outlined a number of strategic approaches, such as risk-sharing by insurance companies; tax deferrals on "catastrophe" reserves; local programs backed by federal funds; and a new national insurance development corporation to guarantee reinsurance.
"We firmly believe that all concerned must work together to meet the urban insurance crisis," the panel advised. "Everyone must contribute; no one should escape responsibility."
