**Types of Grocery Stores**:
– Traditional grocery stores: Offer a full range of groceries, meat, and produce.
– Fresh format stores: Emphasize perishables and unique assortments.
– Limited-assortment stores: Provide low-priced items with a limited selection.
– Super warehouse stores: Combine features of large supermarkets and warehouse stores.
– Small grocery stores: Corner stores with a limited selection of staples.
**Specialty Grocery Stores**:
– Health food stores: Offer health foods, organic products, and local produce catering to specific dietary needs.
– Ethnic grocery stores: Specialize in foods from specific countries or regions, catering to diverse preferences.
– Milk bars: Suburban stores in Australia and New Zealand offering unique products.
– Specialty stores: Offer unique products like health foods and ethnic cuisines, serving customers with specific dietary preferences.
**Retail Formats**:
– Large format stores: Supermarkets and hypermarkets offering a wide range of products under one roof, including groceries and general merchandise.
– Small format stores: Neighborhood groceries, convenience stores, delicatessens, greengrocers, and ethnic markets catering to different consumer needs and preferences.
**Online Grocery Stores**:
– E-commerce platforms: Allow ordering food and consumables online, with examples like Amazon, Peapod, and Walmart.
– Membership retail/wholesale hybrids: Such as Sam’s Club and Costco offering online grocery services.
– Hybrid stores: Like Walmart Supercenter and Super Target, providing online grocery options.
**Global Perspectives on Grocery Stores**:
– North America: Evolution from trading posts to general stores, with a shift towards online grocery shopping.
– Europe: Preservation of traditional shops in rural areas, with major chains like Sainsbury’s and Tesco dominating the market.
– South America: Significant growth in grocery stores since the 1980s, with major chains like Cencosud and Walmart leading the industry.
– Regional variations: Different approaches to grocery store formats and operations in various regions, reflecting cultural and economic differences.
A grocery store (AE), grocery shop (BE) or simply grocery is a foodservice retail store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, and is not used to refer to other types of stores that sell groceries. In the UK, shops that sell food are distinguished as grocers or grocery shops (though in everyday use, people usually use either the term "supermarket" or a "corner shop" or "convenience store").
| Grocery store | |
|---|---|
Grocery store on the Upper West Side of Manhattan Delicatessen & Grocery in Metairie, Louisiana Ethnic grocery, West Bloomfield Twp, Michigan Convenience Store in Brockenhurst, United Kingdom Organic grocery in Toronto, Canada |
Larger types of stores that sell groceries, such as supermarkets and hypermarkets, usually stock significant amounts of non-food products, such as clothing and household items. Small grocery stores that sell mainly fruit and vegetables are known as greengrocers (Britain) or produce markets (U.S.), and small grocery stores that predominantly sell prepared food, such as candy and snacks, are known as convenience shops or delicatessens.[citation needed]