The U.S. Supermarket Wars

According to the Washington Post, "Walmart, Kroger, Aldi (Süd) and Albertsons own a third of all U.S. grocery stores locations." But who is winning the supermarket wars in your area?

Hot on the heels of Japan's ConbiniWars interactive map, the Post has divided the United States based on which supermarket chain owns the most stores in each county. Whereas the ConbiniWars map used a Voronoi layer to divide Japan based on the closest Konbini brand, the Post's Grocery Chains are Bigger than Ever map uses a form of choropleth layer to show which supermarket chains own the most stores in each county.

The Post's map lays bare the territorial dominance of Walmart, which has established a stronghold across much of the central United States. However, in the Northwest, Albertson's continues to mount a fierce defense, holding onto a fortified position in the face of Walmart's expansion. Meanwhile, Kroger has dug in deep, fortifying its lines throughout the mountain states, creating a well-defended bastion in this strategic region. Across other parts of the country, smaller chains are staging localized resistance, strategically counterattacking and holding their ground against Walmart's relentless march of conquest. 

If you want to see who is winning the supermarket war in your area, you can type in your address, and the Post will tell you the number of stores in your county and the share of those stores owned by each supermarket chain. The Post's supermarket data was derived from OpenStreetMap.