Supermarkets
SEPTEMBER 27, 2007 (THURSDAY) – If you saw the blog on the old small stores, you might be interested in a discussion of why stores like that are no longer in business in most places.
I suppose the main reason is the advent of the self-serve market, with push carts for the groceries and plenty of spaces for the shoppers to park their cars.
The big appeal of the larger stores was the fact that they could sell merchandise at a lower price, and that fact alone created business during the Depression. The first true supermarket was opened in Jamaica, Queens, New York in the summer of 1937. Here’s an early A&P.View image
The first big store I ever saw was Weingarten’s on Quitman and Fulton in Houston, around 1941. Some of my friends worked there when they got old enough. It was the talk of our area of town, as people chattily shared their experiences of filling the carts and watching the checkers tally the total. Here’s an image of a typical supermarket of that era: View image The cashiers soon learned how to do their work speedily, with one hand checking the price and the other keying it into the cash register. The little “mom and pop” grocery stores, where the customer from one side of the counter told the clerk behind the counter what he/she wanted, and the clerk fetched the items one at a time, keeping a running total of the bill, was now an “endangered species.”
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As time has passed, these big stores became real “supermarkets,” handling more and more different types of merchandise, with laser barcode readers, and cashless transactions. In fact, the giant stores are still evolving and new ideas are constantly coming forward.
Lost, somewhere between a slower, more personal age and modern society with its automated checkouts, is the little store on the corner just down the street. Today, food markets come in many forms. There is the conventional supermarket, the superstore, the food/drug combo, the warehouse store, the super warehouse, the limited-assortment store, the occasional small corner grocery store, the old-time fruit stand, the good old roadside sellers, the traditional convenience store, the gas station with a convenience store, the hypermarket, the wholesale club, the supercenters, the deep-discount drug store with foods, and the internet (with home delivery or pick up). “Mom and Pop,” where are you?
Wanda was one of the best shoppers in the world, in the grocery store. She bought the basics, and cooked her own dishes from scratch. She spent less on food than most people. She always served up wonderful meals. Now that I go to the grocery store by myself, I do not exercise the wisdom and restraint that she did. My waistline is exhibit #1 to prove I’m not deprived. But I surely do miss her cooking.
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IF JESUS HAD BEEN BORN TODAY: 