Supermarkets have a long history. Beginning in the early 20th century, they started as small locally run shops that specialized in dry goods, such as canned items or non-perishable products. Down the street would be the butcher, who only sold meat, and the green grocer, who sold produce. With the emergence of the Piggly Wiggly mart in 1916 in Memphis, Americans were introduced to self-service grocery shopping that evolved into chain supermarkets like Kroger and eventually Safeway. These still remained small, and mostly family-run, but served a wide range of products including meat, dairy, produce and dry goods.
As the suburb culture of the '50s and '60s expanded, so did the size of the supermarket, and within the last 10 years we have seen super-sized, giant stores like Wal-Mart and Target come to run most of America, containing every product known to man, and all at a discount.
In reaction to these super-sized giants, where quality has taken a back seat and low pricing is the sole priority, new grocery stores have resurfaced with a focus on local, sustainable, and organic products, revolutionizing what it means to be a powerhouse grocery store. Trader Joe's and Whole Foods are now corporate giants, but the food is still locally focused, with the emphasis being on both quality AND quantity (but with a bigger bill than you’d ever find at Wal-Mart).
There are now two new trends for up and coming grocery stores. First, grocery stores seem to be returning to smaller, specialized stores, like butcher shops, which focus on one single product (Bill the Butcher) (sometimes the exterior will even look like a cowboy era butcher’s shop). Second, thanks to globalization and a new found interest in global cuisine over the last 20 years, we are seeing niche grocery stores like Eataly in New York arriving on the scene. Specialty Asian and Mexican markets have been around forever, but now white America is starting to pay attention. So, what do supermarkets of the future look like? I imagine them looking sort of like the Midtown Global Market in Minnesota, how about you?
Inspired by all the Eataly hubbub, here's a yummy pizza pie recipe to try for yourself:
Photos by Flickr user 2Eklectik
