Misplaced Pages

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The images at top of page overlap on narrower screens. Needs fixing.

Location

I have the impression that supermakets location varies from country to country. Here in Brazil, they are located almost entirely inside cities, whereas it seems to me that in other countries (such as US) they are outside city limits (what makes them not that accessible for casual bypassers). Is it true? If so, should it be included in the article? Chester br 02:00, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

In the United States, we have a distinction between high-density inner-city areas and low-density suburbs (most of which are also legally referred to as cities). The majority of supermarkets are located in the suburbs; this is because the people who need to shop at supermarkets the most are families who would prefer to drive there, buy a lot of stuff at once, and take it all home in the trunk of their car. Since land (and thus parking) is expensive in high-density areas, supermarkets traditionally tended to develop more aggressively in low-density areas where land was cheaper.

There is a trend now towards "urban infill" development, because in many metro areas some upper middle class people have become sick and tired of their lengthy commutes from the suburbs. So they move into heavily secured luxury high-rise condo towers next to their workplaces instead. In turn, these people are demanding access to the same conveniences they enjoyed in the suburbs, like spacious supermarkets. Therefore, the big supermarket chains are again opening inner-city stores, and such stores are growing as large as their suburban cousins. --Coolcaesar 04:05, 5 November 2005 (UTC)

Grocery?

Am I alone in thinking of a store smaller than a supermarket when I hear the word grocery. I do not believe the two to be equivalent? The grocery is more of the corner store in my mind. Brooklyn Nellie (Nricardo) 02:58, May 18, 2004 (UTC)

Definatly. A grocery only sells fruit and vegetables and other similar items. i have changed the page accordingly, and also changed a few incorrect spellings. Grunners 23:20, 20 May 2004 (UTC)

Added a bit more history, including Piggly Wiggly and Clarence Saunders, and about Michael Cullen. Earlier stores were grocers - King Kullen is generally recognised as the first supermarket. We probably need to show definitions at some point. Coriolis

Alcohol

In Minnesota, grocery stores are not allowed to sell alcohol higher than a certain level (0.5% ABV without a license or 3.2% ABV with license). Damn blue laws...

Costco

Costco might not be the best company to mention in the same sentence as Walmart. According to the New York Times, Costco's wages and benefits are some of the highest in the industry; true, they don't have unions either, but in the case of Costco it's because the employees are reportedly compensated so well that there are no real benefits to their joining a union. Not that this is gospel, of course, but I think it's unfair to imply that Costco and Walmart are two of a kind.

I concur. The Wall Street Journal has also repeatedly pointed out that Costco does so well because unlike Wal-Mart, it actually gives its employees decent pay and benefits. They may both be big boxes, but otherwise, Costco is quite different from Wal-Mart. --Coolcaesar 17:04, 14 August 2005 (UTC)

Worldwide view issue?

I don't see any problem with this article. What's the problem? --153.18.41.88 23:49, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

I concur. I'm going to take out the worldview notice for now. If someone can justify it, please explain here. --Coolcaesar 06:41, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

I'm putting it back. Like so may other articles in Misplaced Pages, this has been written by Americans for Americans. There is brief mention of supermarkets in some European countries, but that's about it. As an article giving a global perspective of a subject, it's lamentable. Arcturus 23:01, 16 April 2006 (UTC)

Well, the supermarket is an American invention, after all, like the Internet, the airplane, the telephone, the personal computer, etc. Good luck in finding information on the history of supermarkets outside of the U.S. The problem, of course, is that most countries are much farther behind the United States in terms of posting books and articles online. For example, I was able to find both of the articles currently cited in the article by using Thomson Gale's Infotrac database from home (my public library subscribes, as do most American public libraries). --Coolcaesar 19:49, 17 April 2006 (UTC)

Well I agree with Arcturus. It's all America, America, America. Supermarkets are everywhere not just in the United States. And what about Canada? State and local laws? What about States AND Provincial laws? Decimal10 05:46, 27 June 2006 (UTC)