Grocery Stores

Wow, we really take these for granted, don’t we? The grocery store might be the place you frequent the most (not considering your job and home). Think about that – a place you know like the back of your hand, are in at least once per week, and a place you depend on not just physically but emotionally as well. Thankfully the developed world provides a wealth of options to eat. Your physical needs are met and eating then becomes an emotional exercise.

Your loyal scribe frequents one grocery store (a chain that is), at least three times per week. Some would call this excessive, but each trip is not to buy the same items for the week simply three times per week. Rather there is a ritual involved, and this is the most interesting part to this whole equation. The grocery store in 2019 is an enjoyable place to be, a ritual of sorts, and one that is enjoyed by millions of folks every week worldwide.

At its core, a grocery store is a bulk seller of food. They buy in bulk and sell said food products individually for a profit. No rocket-science here. Grocery stores began by selling non-perishable items which were packaged in cans or bottles and boxes. Many think Walmart was one of the first to sell clothing and other non-food items in their grocery stores. But this has been going on for decades, with household and clothing items having been peddled at a range of grocery stores dating back to the early 1900s.

The very first grocery store in North America was the Piggly Wiggly. Opened in 1916 in Memphis, Tennessee to be exact, the Piggly Wiggly was the first store to sell food over a counter. People would browse the products, and then ask the clerk to pass them from a stocked inventory in the back. As demand grew this model ended up evolving as it became quite costly to maintain employees behind a counter fetching articles every second. Big chains eventually began to surface such as Vons, Ralphs, Safeway, Albertsons and later Whole Foods and Trader Joes. In between what’s known as hypermarkets popped up, namely the beforementioned Walmart and Target.

Depending on the region your live in, grocery stores will of course vary. One of the most entertaining things to do in the States is travel between States and compare the goods one can find in Seattle for example with Mississippi. It’s truly astounding the range of food we Americans consume and we’re not even touching the tip of the iceberg. There is a chain of grocery stores in Chile for example (which has expanded throughout South America) known as Jumbo. The logo/icon – yep, an elephant. This giant elephant welcomes you to some of the largest grocery stores you have ever entered. Chile is only a country of 18 million, but this store is no joke.

What a pleasant subject to write on. If you don’t mind, we need to run. Got some ice-cream and peanuts to buy!