Kroger is the top grocery store in Atlanta

Data: Chain Store Guide; Note: Stores under the same brand name have been combined, e.g. Walmart and Walmart Supercenter. Chart: Axios Visuals

Kroger remains the top store where we like to get our groceries, according to data released by Chain Store Guide.

By the numbers: Kroger clocks in with more than a quarter of the market share last year at 26%. It's followed by Publix at 22.5% and Walmart at 19.2%.

• Kroger appears to have widened its gap as the leading chain. In 2022, the store's market share was 23.7%. Publix and Walmart's share remained relatively the same.

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The intrigue: Costco stayed in fourth place from 2022 to 2023, but increased its share to 6.7% last year. While Lidl has expanded in metro Atlanta, the store's market share still hovered at 1.6% from 2022 to 2023.

• Whole Foods in 2022 had a 1.8% market share, but does not appear in the 2023 ranking.

The big picture: Mayor Andre Dickens last month said Atlanta will open a grocery store selling fresh food and produce on the south side of the city. A large percentage of people in those census tracts live on low incomes and have low access to a grocery store , according to the USDA.

• The city announced on Friday it was awarded nearly $3 million from America's Healthy Food Financing Initiative, which would improve access to fresh food in low-income areas.
• Atlanta will use the funding to offer 10 loans valued at up to $150,000 to businesses "committed to enhancing food access in Atlanta's underserved communities" and research the "food retail landscape" in low-income neighborhoods and corridors.