Atlanta's City-Funded Grocery Stores Should Become N...

By Joshua Rhett Miller

Chief Investigative Reporter

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A city-backed grocery store is serving up an answer to food insecurity in downtown Atlanta and should be emulated nationally, Mayor Andre Dickens told Newsweek.

Dickens envisions Azalea Fresh Market at 25 Peachtree Street as a transformative community hub rather than a place to simply pick up fresh food at affordable prices. Nearly three months after the launch of Atlanta's first municipal grocery store, the recently reelected mayor says the public-private collaborative effort is flourishing and ought to inspire imitators throughout the country.

"This is something that's kind of personal," Dickens told Newsweek during an interview on Wednesday. "When you start to see areas of your city have food deserts, where you can't get fresh groceries without traveling quite a distance, it becomes disturbing, it becomes unsettling."

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Dickens, a 51-year-old Democrat and former city councilmember, tried to bridge that gap by attracting major grocery chains into downtown Atlanta, as well as some south and west sections, where largely "black and brown communities" long struggled to get quality and affordable fare, he said.

"And they all eat, we all eat every day — but in order to get access to fresh food, you had to travel too far," Dickens said. "So, the idea was, how do we make that right?"

National grocery chains balked at filling the void due to a lack of disposable income among would-be customers, coupled with the inclination to launch megastores with massive parking lots, Dickens said.

"They were giving us their rationale," he said. "And I was like, 'So, what's the solution?' And they didn't have one, and I was just disappointed in that."

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Dickens said Atlanta ultimately decided to "do it ourselves" by offering a slew of cash, grants and loans totaling $8 million for two Azalea Fresh Market locations, the first of which opened on September 8 in the city's Olympia Building and replaced a former Walgreens. The second store is set to open in southwest Atlanta in February.

Dickens praised the city's partners, including the Independent Grocers Alliance and Savi Provisions, for helping to meet the needs of roughly 14 percent of Atlantans who experience food insecurity.

"We went and called them and they taught us," Dickens said of IGA. "Remember, we run government, we don't run grocery stores, but we know that people got to eat."

More than 700 customers visited the Peachtree Street location on its first day of operation, generating several hundred thousand dollars in revenue. Roughly 5,500 customers are expected monthly, creating an estimated total economic impact of more than $6 million annually, city officials said.

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Savi Provisions, which owns and operates Azalea Fresh Market along with 24 other specialty supermarkets across Georgia and North Carolina, said the alliance reinforces the company's commitment to Atlanta.

"We look forward to growing the Azalea Fresh Market brand and working together with stakeholders across the city to make this a truly accessible and homegrown concept," Savi's founder and CEO, Paul Nair, said in a statement in early September.

Atlanta joins a growing number of cities experimenting with the public-private grocery store model. Zohran Mamdani, mayor-elect of New York City, championed municipal-owned markets during his campaign, vowing to open a network of locations exempt from paying rent or property taxes.

"Without having to pay rent or property taxes, they will reduce overhead and pass on savings to shoppers," Mamdani's campaign website reads. "They will buy and sell at wholesale prices, centralize warehousing and distribution, and partner with local neighborhoods on products and sourcing."

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Reps for Mamdani, who takes office in January, praised the early success of Azalea Fresh Market.

"As grocery prices climb, too many New Yorkers are struggling to feed their families — with more than 40% unable to afford the cost of groceries each week,” Mamdani spokesperson Dora Pekec told Newsweek in a statement. "With food insecurity rising across the country, Mayor-elect Mamdani knows we need bold solutions to tackle this crisis. We welcome, and learn from, any model that demonstrates how government can deliver for working people and provide cheaper groceries for families."

Dickens, who was busy running his own campaign, said he didn't have much time to follow the New York race, but he wants to share lessons learned from his city's first municipal grocery store with any jurisdiction willing to listen.

"Atlanta's a good model," he said. "And we're keeping stats. We're keeping track of things, so we know what's working, what's not working and what needs to be improved. And then we'll hand that playbook off to other people. This is a problem nationally, and we want to support the national movement to help people get access to fresh food."

Efforts to launch government-run grocery stores are also underway in Venice, Illinois, and Madison, Wisconsin, although the experimental approach isn't a sure bet. A city-funded location in Kansas City, Missouri, recently shuttered after 10 years and $18 million in public investment due to crime and dwindling sales, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Shoppers at Azalea Fresh Market, meanwhile, have reported pleasant finds thus far at the 20,000-square-foot downtown location.

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"I was surprised to see the grocery section," Rachel Waller, of Atlanta, told CBS News in late September. "I would say that's definitely more convenient for people that live down here, especially the students."

The campus of Georgia State University is just several blocks away, and Azalea's customers have included GSU president Brian Blake, who previously popped in for hot sauce, peppers and broccoli.

"These are sort of things that weren't accessible to us before," Blake told CBS News. "They'll be great for our students' health."

Azalea Fresh Markets aims to become profitable without financial help from the city within three years, a goal that's attainable and invaluable regardless of outcome, Dickens said.

"The goal is, after three years, to start to reduce how much government subsidy is within there," he said. "We're hopeful that we get to zero at some point, but if we don't get to zero, it's still worthwhile to help people have fresh food access."

Students from Savannah College of Art and Design also helped develop the Azalea Fresh Market concept and name — yet another nod to the space's intentionally communal vibe, Dickens said.

"They came up with the logo, they came up with the interior design, they came up with the endcaps, they picked out the tile," he told Newsweek. "For what's it worth, you walk into our grocery store, and it feels like a Whole Foods, it feels like a Publix. It's fresh and it's bright, and you don't feel like you're getting some inferior product. You actually feel comfortable going in there no matter who you are."

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