Grocery store

History

The first grocery stores were set up as trading posts, which sold not only food but clothing, household items, tools, furniture, and other miscellaneous merchandise. These trading posts evolved into larger retail businesses known as general stores. Modern grocers—like supermarkets, greengrocers, and convenience stores—are descended from general stores. Many rural areas still contain general stores which sell goods from indigenous cigars to imported napkins. In certain places, these may also handle illegal goods. These stores normally offer credit facility, a system of payment which works on trust rather than a credit card.

International

The business of grocery stores varies from nation to nation; however, the stores are all similar in their principle selling of edible goods. The nature of these goods varies with local availability and traditional diet.

Europe

Because many European cities (Rome, for example) are already so dense in population and buildings, large supermarkets, in the American sense, will almost undoubtedly never replace the local grocery store. However, 'Metro' stores have been appearing in town and city centres in many countries, leading to the decline of independent smaller stores, and large out-of-town supermarkets and hypermarkets, such as Tesco in the United Kingdom, have been steadily sapping the trade from smaller stores.

United States

American grocery stores are set up in different styles ranging from rural family-owned, such as IGAs, to urban or suburban boutique chains, such as Whole Foods Market.

The establishment of "all-in-one" retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target has forced consolidation among the grocery business. The global buying power of such companies has put an increased financial burden on traditional grocery stores as well as the national supermarket chains.

When a small grocery store is in competition with large supermarkets, the grocery store often creates its own niche market by selling unique, premium quality, or traditional foods that cannot be easily found in a supermarket. For example, yummy.com (www.yummy.com), a neighborhood grocery store in Los Angeles, will deliver to its customers' homes within 30 minutes of their order. A grocery store may also compete by being located in a mixed commercial-residential area that is close to, and convenient for, its customers.

Some local grocers distinguish themselves from larger supermarkets by providing ready-made foods such as sandwiches, hot dogs, and ice cream. Although large chains have begun to add food service, smaller grocery stores have an advantage in that they can generally provide fresher and cheaper prepared foods, and a more peaceful environment in which to eat them.

Cultural impact

Many grocery stores that carry a type of food from a certain culture such as Italian or Middle-Eastern have served as gathering points for many immigrants. Supermarkets have also eliminated the need for speciality stores. Also, many teens find their first job at grocery stores.

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