News

Nov 20, 2023

These 40 Photos Show How Grocery Stores Have Changed Over the Years

Take a stroll down memory ... aisle. Grocery stores serve as a reflection of

Take a stroll down memory ... aisle.

Grocery stores serve as a reflection of what is going on in society. From the surge of big supermarkets in the 1950s consumerism phase to stocked canned food aisles during the Cold War, there have been a lot of shifts since the first store was conceptualized in 1916. See for yourself how shopping for food has evolved over the last 100 years.

The old grocery system involved customers calling or bringing their grocers lists of what they needed, then stores would bag items for pick-up or delivery. But Clarence Saunders changed the game when he opened the first self-service grocery store, the Piggly Wiggly, in 1916 in Memphis, Tennessee. By the '50s and '60s, shoppers became accustomed to strolling through aisles and hand-selecting items themselves.

The customers of the 20th century would be horrified by what most people wear to the store today. Back then, the norm was to dress up when running errands and women would wear their best dresses and accessories.

When the advertising industry was at its peak in the 1950s, grocery stores realized they could target their customers with flashy displays to push items. Stores used elaborate displays, big wording and bright colors to grab the attention of shoppers.

Grocery stores mimicked the strategy that department stores used to lure customers in with window displays. The concept, started by Harry Gordon Selfridge, aimed to make store windows an attraction and began in 1914.

In 1962, the average grocery store worker in the United States made $1.69 an hour. This was higher than minimum wage at the time, which was $1.15, or the equivalent to $9.85 in 2020.

In the early '60s and '70s, a grocery store's footprint was at most 15,000-square-feet. Much different from the markets today, which are on average 45,000-square-feet.

Sylvan Goldman got the idea for shopping carts from two folding lawn chairs. Before then, customers carried their groceries in baskets. It took some coaxing to get people to try the new invention — men were embarrassed to admit they didn't want to carry the basket and women claimed it was too similar to a stroller — but by the '40s most stores had adapted the idea.

Can you imagine? An advert from Kroger's in 1957 prides itself on having cash registers that did calculate exact change for a customer, so we know where we would have been shopping.

In the '40s, grocery stores had to make their checkout stands bigger to accommodate the amount of food shoppers bought at once with the new invention of carts.

Before the barcode was invented in 1974, store clerks were tasked with manually placing a price tag sticker on each product being sold.

To speed the process up, stores installed the conveyor belt table top in the '50s, which is still used in stores to this day.

No one was asking you whether you preferred "paper or plastic" until the '50s, when plastic bags were invented. Even then, it wasn't until the '80s that their use in grocery stores started to increase.

Grocery stores remodeled their aisles, making them wider, so that multiple carts could fit at one time.

In 1947, Orla Watson added an attached basket to the inside for easy storage. In the '50s, a child seat was added as an extra convenience for parents.

An average of 4,000 products were kept in stores in the mid-'70s. Although this may have made shopping faster with fewer choices, it didn't provide consumer with the variety they have today.

It wasn't until the '80s that people started to expect a variety of items at their grocery store — from flowers and toys to magazines and greeting cards. Before then, shoppers were only purchasing food.

Like this one, which had a laundromat attached. The idea was specifically tailored to busy moms, who wanted to get two household chores done at once.

Combining the popular 1950s soda shoppe and grocery store seemed like a brilliant idea at the time. Here, customers enjoy a quick bite before shopping.

Due to segregation and Jim Crow laws, it was illegal for Black people to sit at the counters in many shops until 1964. Here, a sit-in takes place in Oklahoma City on August 26, 1958 to desegregate lunch counters. Many similar protests took place during the Civil Rights Movement.

As grocery stores became more profitable in the '30s, more chains opened up nationwide. By the time the '50s rolled around, there was a fierce competition in the marketplace and retailers enlisted advertising companies to create flashy ads that would set themselves apart.

Tarek El Moussa Answers Fans' Most Asked Question

The Best Juneteenth Books

Alexandra Daddario Posed Naked On IG

Where Is ‘Stars on Mars’ Filmed? What Fox Left Out

King Charles Sends Sweet Gift to Princess Lilibet

Heidi Klum Wore the Riskiest See-Through Look

Kevin Costner Addresses 'Yellowstone' Fans

What to Know About 'NCIS' Season 21

Zooey Deschanel Is Unrecognizable in New Photos

Emily Ratajkowski Wears a Sheer Slip Dress

Rachael Ray Breaks Down After Emotional Interview

Why Sofia Vergara and Heidi Klum Freaked on 'AGT'