August 20, 2013 (Tuesday)
My mother used to send me to the store to pick up a loaf of bread plus perhaps another small item or two. I was a kid, so I ran or skipped all the way. No matter where we lived, there was always a little grocery store not far away. In some places, you had to go to a butcher shop if you wanted meat, to a “fruit stand” if your choice was fresh produce, and even to a fish market where you could pick out the fish of your choice, almost any size.
The method of shopping was simple. You just told the proprietor what you wanted, and he would pick it from the shelves and place it on the counter. If you had a list already made, you just handed it to the clerk and he would fetch all the items and place them on the counter. Then he would use his adding machine and see how much you owed. If you had an account at the store, you just had the owner add it to your bill. Invariably, the clerk would suggest some new item that you might like. Always there was the pleasant conversation, “How’s your Aunt Maggie?” “Her arthritis any better?” “Kids liking school?” “Glad you have a job. These days it’s hard to find one,” etc. etc. The corner store or the country store offered community as well as groceries. When I was pastor in the country, I just went to the store on some days and visited with the people as they came and went, never in a hurry, always having time to pass the time of day.
Then came the bigger stores, carrying all the products the separate shops had sold. The method of purchase, however, was still pretty much the same, you told the clerk what you wanted and they fetched it for you. After a while came the grocery carts, and the larger orders.
After the small chains, came the big guys. Under one big roof was almost anything you could want. There were the lines at the checkout counters, where the checkers memorized all the prices and their fingers flew over the cash register keys. The supermarket. The various chains brought competition and smart shopping could reveal bargains.
Today we have the super stores, that sell just about everything in one huge room. One-stop shopping is not just a slogan. It’s real. The air is filled with the sound of beeps as the bar codes are read by the scanners. Sad to say, many smaller merchants have been forced out of business, but some have found relief in becoming affiliated with other independent stores, keeping overhead low and becoming competitive, at the same time offering the personal touch to the consumer.
But there’s nothing today like the old corner grocery and the country store. They are gone. We miss them.
