The supermarket is 75 years old

In Scrambling for customers - The supermarket was born 75 years ago. One-stop shopping has come a long way the San Francisco reports on the 75th anniversary of the creation of the "supermarket"--King Kullen on Long Island in New York.

The supermarket brought a wider variety of products and lower prices, and in comparison to public markets, united all the departments under one proprietor (compared say to the different vendors of dairy, meat, produce, baked goods, and seafood at a place like Eastern Market). Then again, how many different toilet papers does one need to choose from?

With the availability of widespread refrigeration, people bought larger quantities of food, and often from locations at greater distances away from home--as opposed to the corner stores and smaller groceries located in nearby commercial districts. Of course, this was one step in retail consolidation and expansion, and a move away from neighborhood-serving retail to more regional shopping patterns outside of the traditional downtown-centric department stores.

Ockershausen Produce Stall at Center Market, 1925. Washington, DC. HSW photo.