H-E-B maintains its spot as the most-popular grocer in San Antonio

Coming as a surprise to absolutely no one, H-E-B is the most popular grocery chain in San Antonio with 46.9% of the market share as of last year, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick and Erin Davis report.

• Walmart and Sam's Club are the second- and third-most-popular grocers, with 30.2% and 5.3% 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.

• H-E-B, which has stores only in Texas and Mexico, ranks nationally for the most-popular grocery stores.
• "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.

Yes, but: H-E-B took the top spot — beating Amazon, Costco and Walmart — in a national consumer survey, according to results released in February.

By the numbers: The amount Americans spend on groceries is getting crushed by the amount we spend dining out.

• "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: The San Antonio-based company is expanding into the Dallas-Fort Worth area. H-E-B opened two stores there last year and has plans for more locations in Allen, McKinney and Mansfield.

• The company has also purchased land in other parts of Dallas, Fort Worth and Denton.