Market Basket is Boston area's top grocer
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Market Basket is the most popular grocery chain in the Greater Boston area, with over 20% of the market share as of last year.
- Stop & Shop and Walmart are the second- and third-most-popular grocers, with 14.8% and 12.3% of the local market share, respectively.
- That's according to new data from Chain Store Guide, which tracks the retail and food service industries.
The big picture: While national grocery behemoths such as Walmart are typically among the most popular grocers — if not the most popular — in any given city, local and regional favorites can give the big box stores a run for their money.
- It helps that Suffolk County doesn't have any Walmarts, as the chain has only been able to get into neighboring cities like Lynn and Quincy.
- That's partially because former Mayor Tom Menino told the box store giant to take a hike in the early 2010s when they tried to expand in the city.
Why it matters: Shoppers often develop allegiances toward their local favorites. You don't have to look far to spot members of the Cult of the Demoulas that make Market Basket the top in the region.
- Market Basket's appeal has only grown as prices rise. The chain is rated as the nation's best grocery chain for inflationary times according to market researcher Dunnhumby.
- Market Basket stans showed they were more than just loyal customers in 2014 when they backed temporarily-ousted CEO Arthur Demoulas in a nasty feud that threatened the future of the company.
By the numbers: The amount Americans spend on groceries is getting crushed by the amount we spend dining out in the post-pandemic era.
- "People spent 20.7% more at restaurants than they spent on groceries in 2022 — and that figure rose to 29.5% in the first two months of the year, according to Commerce Department data compiled by JLL," Axios' Nathan Bomey writes.
What's next: Amazon — which acquired Whole Foods in 2017 for $13.4 billion — is looking to dramatically expand the grocery wing of its commerce empire, Axios' Richard Collings and Kimberly Chin write.