Inside Atlanta’s First Government-Funded Supermarket

ATLANTA—When the Azalea Fresh Market opened this summer, it became the only supermarket to operate in this city’s downtown in two decades. To make that happen, the city contributed $8 million in cash, grants and loans.

Now, this 20,000-square-foot store is the beginning of what officials hope will be more publicly funded, but privately run supermarkets to come. The goal is for the store to become profitable without any government subsidy within three years. With the same funding, the city is already aiding the construction of a second planned store 6 miles away, expected to open next year.