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volume of sales. A supermarket sells at least $ 2 million worth of goods
each year. Supermarkets account for about three-fourths of all food-store
sales in the United States. Some supermarkets are independent stores,
but many belong to networks called chains.
Supermarkets have changed greatly since they began operating
throughout the United States during the 1930’s. Early supermarkets sold
only food, offered few services, and displayed merchandise in shipping
containers. Today’s supermarkets still sell a variety of food products,
including baked goods, canned goods, dairy products, frozen foods, fruit,
meat, and vegetables. However, many also stock auto suppliers, cleaning
products, cooking utensils, greeting cards, and other non-food items.
They use shelving and special cases to display products.”

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“Chain stores are a group of retail stores whose activities are
supervised by a centralized managerial body. More than half
supermarkets in the U.S. are chain stores. A chain can buy large
quantities of goods for all its stores at once, and receive a discount for
placing a large order. This system enables the chain to offer lower prices.
Chain stores can also share costs in such areas as advertising and
accounting. Among well-known chain stores are Montgomery Ward &
Co, Woolworth Co,Kroger Co, Sears, Roebuck and Co, Wal-Mart, Inc,
K-Mart Inc., Toys–R–Us, and others.”

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Text 4

SHOPPING AT THE SUPERMARKET

My roommate and I (we are exchange students) do our shopping
together, generally on Saturday morning. Though there are different
specialty shops in our neighborhood we prefer going to the local
supermarket. It’s our usual way to shop for household items. We don’t
like to go to different places to purchase our food The quantity and
variety of products available at the supermarket – bread, meat, fresh
flowers, hardware supplies, shampoo – are almost unbelievable. The
number of brands is astonishing and is related to Western consumerism
and materialism – bigger, better, more.

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