Fry's is Phoenix's favorite grocery store

Fry's is the most popular grocery chain in the Phoenix area, with 26.2% of the market share as of last year, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick and Erin Davis report.

Driving the news: Walmart and Costco are residents' second and third favorites, with 21.5% and 10.7% of local market share, respectively.

• That's according to new data from Chain Store Guide, which tracks the retail and food service industries.

Zoom in: Fry's, owned by Kroger, has 127 stores across 34 cities in Arizona, including 27 in Phoenix.

• Kroger and Albertsons, which has 9.7% of the market share in the Phoenix metro, are attempting a merger, though they said they're willing to divest up to 650 stores nationally and could shift 100-375 stores to a new entity.
• Opponents are urging the FTC to block the merger.

The big picture: While national retail behemoths such as Walmart are often among the most popular grocers — if not the most popular — in any given city, local and regional operations can give the big box stores a run for their money.

• "At a time when politics divides opinion nationally on many big brands, grocery brands have been able to maintain loyalty and trust across demographics by maintaining a steady presence in their communities," Axios' Sara Fischer and Emily Peck write.

By the numbers: The amount Americans spend on groceries is getting crushed by the total spent 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.

Jeremy's thought bubble: As a Phoenix native who's lived here most of my life, I still miss Smitty's.