At the beginning of the 20th century, grocery stores in the United States were full-service. A customer would ask a clerk behind the counter for specific items and the clerk would package the items, which were limited to dry goods. These grocery stores usually carried only one brand of each good. There were early chain stores, such as the A&P Stores, but these were all entirely full-service.
In 1916, a paradigm shift in grocery store science occurred. Clarence Saunders invented the self-service grocery store. The first Piggly Wiggly opened on September 9, 1916 in Memphis, Tennessee. The concept of the "Self-Serving Store" was patented by Saunders in 1917.
Customers entered the revolutionary store through turnstiles and walked through a narrow maze of shelves containing groceries on the walls. They selected their goods as they continued through the maze to a cashier. Instantly, packaging and brand recognition became important to companies and consumers. One can visit a museum in Memphis that includes a replica of the first Piggly Wiggly.
The Piggly Wiggly phenomenon grew rapidly; at the end of the 1930s, there were over 2,600 stores nationwide. Other independent and chain grocery stores changed to self-service through the 1930s.
Grocery stores also began to offer products beyond the normal scope of the dry-good grocery store. They added meat, dairy, fruit and vegetables, and breads to their offerings (which had formerly been offered by individual stores such as butchers, bakeries, and the "milk man.") The addition of these products signaled the birth of the "supermarket."
Over the decades, the supermarket has evolved even further. Now, one sees warehouse-style supermarkets and super-supermarkets that offer greeting cards, flowers, video rental, fast food, child care, and much more! It's likely that these one-stop stores will continue to evolve and the behavior of consumers will change with it.
