DALLAS -- Residents in many of the southernmost neighborhoods in Dallas said they are unfairly being ignored by big grocery chain stores, NBC 5 reported.

---

Video

---

Pleasant Grove resident Antoinette Perkins said the only grocery store in her neighborhood is expensive.

"It's more than just enough money here," Perkins said. "But we have to take our money to another area."

It is a common complaint among residents in southern Dallas neighborhoods and economists at the University of Texas at Dallas studied the issue, and said it's true.

"We took a map of the county and we looked at all the neighborhoods that you have to drive more than a mile to get to the nearest grocery store, and the biggest concentration is, you guessed it, southern Dallas," said Nathan Berg of the University Of Texas at Dallas.

Berg says grocery chains mistakenly assume they can't make money in neighborhoods like Pleasant Grove.

"There are more than 10,000 people, buying cars, renovating homes, right from where we're standing and they can't walk to a grocery store," Berg said.

There is a Minyard Grocery store in Oak Cliff near Interstate 35 and Camp Wisdom Road, but residents said they want more choices.

"Give us a little bit more variety," said Mildred Rhodes, an Oak Cliff resident. "In this neighborhood, people have money and they're ready to spend it."

A developer said it wants to build another store and is in talks with big chains, including Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market, NBC 5 reported.