Brookhaven Grocery Stores: What's Filling the Former Anchors?

In 2024, Brookhaven had three conventional supermarkets: Publix at Oglethorpe Crossing, Kroger at Skye Hill on Buford Highway, and Kroger at Cherokee Plaza on Peachtree Road. Two of those three have since left their buildings. The town isn't heading toward fewer places to buy groceries. Each departure is being replaced by a different kind of store from the one that left, and the old buildings are changing shape too.

This is where each site stands as of mid-October 2026, starting with the move that has already happened.

Publix moved a mile and came back bigger

The first change was the cleanest. Publix closed its roughly 38,000-square-foot store at Oglethorpe Crossing, 3435 Ashford Dunwoody Road, on July 22, 2025, after nearly thirty years there. The next day, July 23, 2025, it opened a 45,544-square-foot store at Cambridge Square, 2010 Johnson Ferry Road, according to Publix's own newsroom announcement.

The new store is about 7,500 square feet larger than the old one. It also has a drive-through pharmacy, and the Cambridge Square store page lists sushi plus wine and beer. Store hours are currently listed as 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Pharmacy hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

That handoff left behind an empty 38,000-square-foot box on Ashford Dunwoody Road, and that box is the one getting the most attention right now. Before getting to it, though, there's the other building that went dark.

Skye Hill gets a grocer that's new to Atlanta

Kroger anchored Skye Hill at 3855 Buford Highway for more than 50 years, in a store of roughly 42,000 square feet, before closing in October 2025. Before it closed, a Rough Draft Atlanta column by a Drew Valley resident described it as a store small enough to shop quickly, with easy parking in a lot shared only by a Chase Bank out front and Donnie's restaurant on the side. The column also mentioned shoppers who walked there from the surrounding streets.

The replacement isn't another national chain. Tomorrow's News Today Atlanta reported in June that Compare Foods, a grocer new to the Atlanta market, would open in place of the former Kroger once its sublease with Kroger was finalized. The banner is owned by Associated Supermarket Group of Port Washington, New York. Compare Foods' own description, quoted in that report, calls it "rooted in Hispanic tradition." It says the stores carry Hispanic and international food products, fresh produce, meats and everyday essentials. Its current locations page lists stores in New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Connecticut and Rhode Island, so Brookhaven would be its first Georgia store.

The schedule has slipped once. The June report pointed to a September opening, depending on permits and hiring. A September 25 update from the same outlet said the store was then targeting an October opening. If you've been waiting to try it, check the store's own channels before you drive over.

Compare Foods is also entering a part of Brookhaven that already has a strong grocery corridor. The June report lists Talpa Supermarkets at Plaza Fiesta, City Farmers Market at Northeast Plaza and an Aldi as nearby options. Skye Hill is going from a long-running conventional supermarket to one more choice along a Buford Highway stretch that already offers plenty.

Oglethorpe Crossing splits the old Publix in two

The former Publix on Ashford Dunwoody Road is changing the most. Tomorrow's News Today Atlanta reported on September 23, citing several sources, that Trader Joe's plans to take a large portion of the building. The Atlanta Business Chronicle followed the next day, saying Trader Joe's is expected to take space at Oglethorpe Crossing. Trader Joe's keeps its leasing deals quiet, and the company hasn't announced the store or given an opening date.

The size is the useful detail. The reported Brookhaven store would be about 18,000 square feet. Tomorrow's News Today says most Trader Joe's stores run between 8,000 and 15,000 square feet, so this would be on the larger side. It would still fill less than half of the 38,000-square-foot Publix box. Leasing materials show the new anchor taking the left portion of the building, with the rest possibly going to small shops, other retail or a restaurant.

The landlord has done a similar backfill before. Coro, which bought Oglethorpe Crossing in 2011, also owned Chastain Market, where it filled a former Sprouts with Trader Joe's and Books-A-Million. If that plan carries over here, Ashford Dunwoody Road would go from one supermarket to a grocer plus several smaller tenants under the same roof.

Since 2024, Trader Joe's has opened stores at Chastain Park, Alpharetta, Peachtree City and Johns Creek. Brookhaven would be the next addition to that expansion.

All four sites at a glance

Only Cherokee Plaza still has the same grocer it had two years ago. When Kroger's Atlanta division answered questions about the Skye Hill closing, it pointed shoppers to the Cherokee Plaza store at 3871 Peachtree Road NE, as the Rough Draft column reported. The columnist described that store as noticeably larger than the Buford Highway one, with a sushi bar and seating. The lot is shared with tenants including Willie's, Chin Chin and Jersey Mike's, near the MARTA station and the new city hall.

The smaller vacancy on Clairmont

The grocery changes at Skye Hill have touched its neighbors too. Donnie's Country Cookin', the meat-and-three at 3300 Clairmont Road that shared the Skye Hill lot with Kroger, served its last day on Friday, September 25, 2026. That's what Tomorrow's News Today Atlanta reported. The restaurant's history goes back to 1989, when the original opened at 1791 Barone Avenue. It moved into Skye Hill in 2008, and the current owners chose to retire when the lease ended. Two Donnie's locations are still open elsewhere in the metro, in Norcross on Beaver Ruin Road and in Clarkston on North Indian Creek.

The 2,400-square-foot space has drawn interest from several possible tenants, but no lease had been signed as of that report. Once Compare Foods opens, Skye Hill will have a new anchor next to a restaurant space that's still empty.

Saturdays fill a different role

The Brookhaven Farmers Market sits alongside all four supermarket sites. It runs Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon at 1375 Fernwood Circle, including Halloween morning, October 31.

Put together, Brookhaven's grocery picture over the next year looks like this. There's a larger Publix with a drive-through pharmacy on Johnson Ferry Road and the same Kroger at Cherokee Plaza. There's a first-in-Georgia Compare Foods on Buford Highway, and a reported Trader Joe's sharing the old Publix box on Ashford Dunwoody Road with smaller tenants. That's four stores where there were three, and only the Cherokee Plaza Kroger is the same store Brookhaven had in 2024.

If a short drive to one of these stores matters on your next home search, or you're wondering how a changing shopping center could shape interest in your own street, Taylor Thompson knows these corners of Brookhaven. Schedule a consultation, and we'll go over what's open, what's coming and what it means for your plans.