The Wonder of Grocery Shopping
“Spend your life with the people who make even going to the grocery store an adventure.” — Unknown
Alright, let’s get this out of the way. I know and understand grocery stores and supermarkets are designed in such a way to make you spend more money. For example, they place everyday essentials like milk, eggs, etc towards the back of the store in order to make you walk the rows and aisles. I get the placement of impulse purchases like soda, gum, magazines, etc are at checkout to give you an urge to buy them while waiting in line. Yes, they often put the highest margin at eye-level to make it stand out to you. These establishments are businesses and they need to turn a profit in order to exist.
However, the same is true for the beloved local coffee place where the barista knows your name and order by heart. Your favorite restaurant with delicious food and generous portions is doing the same. I argue just because a place wants to be successful and needs money from their customers does not mean they are evil.
Now we have gotten that elephant out of the room, go on this thought experiment with me (provided by my marketing professor in college). We are in a world of absolutely no grocery stores, supermarkets, or anything resembling them. Each product or relevant group of items has its own store. You need to go to one location for meats, another for dairy, yet another for drinks like water/soda/juice, still another for fruits & vegetables, etc. The average grocery store has over 39,500 items, so imagine how long it would take to fill out your shopping list! Supermarkets are exactly as the name indicates: a marketplace. Let’s take some time to appreciate just how convenient they make a very necessary part of our lives.
Not only do they offer accessibility, but they offer immense variety. If you told someone in the near distant past they would be able to get noodles from Asia, sauces from Europe, produce from Latin America, etc, in one single place, how amazing would that seem to them? By perusing and staring at the full shelves, you are traveling around the world and exploring different cultures.
Finally, just my personal experience, but the whole process of shopping is just so cathartic and relaxing. The sights and the sounds of grocery stores have a peaceful nature to them. The aisles are filled with endless possibilities of what I can eat, drink, create, and enjoy throughout the coming days. The shelves are filled with mouth-watering potential I can actualize by using my limited culinary skills. It truly is an amazing place.
So next time you are at your Publix, HEB, Wegman’s, Whole Foods Market, Trader Joe’s, Kroger, Stop & Shop, H-Mart, etc., take a step back and marvel at the beauty of the one and only grocery store.
Attention shoppers, thank you for reading and following along!
