October 16, 2025
Located in downtown Atlanta, the Azalea Market opened in August.
As American cities struggle with rising food prices and less access to affordable groceries, Atlanta lawmakers implemented a solution that may become the blueprint for other major cities.
Azalea Fresh Market is the city’s first government-operated grocery store. Situated in downtown Atlanta, the market provides fresh and locally made foods instead of packaged and processed items.
The grocery store is located in an area the Department of Agriculture classifies as a food desert, which means many residents don’t live close to full-service grocery stores. The store operates daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and plans to open two restaurants in the future.
“Azalea Fresh Market is proof that when we work together as a city, we can deliver real solutions that change lives,” Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens told Fox News Digital. In less than two months, the store has served more than 20,000 customers, evidence, he says, of how strong the need was in a neighborhood “long underserved by grocers.”
Dickens noted that in its first month, fresh produce made up 11.6 percent of Azalea Fresh’s sales, exceeding the national average of 10 percent.
Atlanta’s city-run market has become a potential success story, drawing close attention from other major cities like New York. Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani said that if he takes office, he plans to create city-operated grocery stores to address increasing costs in America’s largest city.
“As Mayor, Zohran will create a network of city-owned grocery stores focused on keeping prices low, not making a profit,” his campaign website notes. “Without having to pay rent or property taxes, they will reduce overhead and pass on savings to shoppers.”
Some argue that city-run grocery stores could negatively impact taxpayers. Nicole Huyer, a senior research associate at the Heritage Foundation’s Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies, argues that smaller grocers will struggle to compete with the government-subsidized businesses.
The Azalea Fresh Market is located at 25 Peachtree Street NW in the historic Olympia Building.
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