Supermarkets began
Supermarkets began as a transformative response to the economic landscape of the 1930s, particularly shaped by the Great Depression. Prior to this era, small family-owned grocers faced competition from chain stores that offered lower prices through bulk purchasing and fewer services. The concept of the self-service supermarket emerged from innovative ideas about retailing, notably proposed by Michael Cullen, who envisioned larger stores where customers could select goods directly. After his initial plan was rejected by Kroger, Cullen opened the first successful supermarket, King Kullen, in Queens, New York, emphasizing low prices and brand-name products.
The advent of supermarkets fundamentally altered the grocery shopping experience by eliminating clerks and promoting impulse buying, supported by the introduction of the grocery cart. This shift was facilitated by broader societal changes, including increased automobile ownership and the commonality of refrigerators, which allowed for more varied food offerings. While established grocery chains initially resisted these changes, they eventually adapted by consolidating their operations into larger supermarkets. Even independent grocers found ways to survive by forming voluntary chains and adopting supermarket strategies. The supermarket revolution not only changed consumer behavior but also showcased the potential for entrepreneurial success during challenging economic times.
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Supermarkets began
Super-sized, self-service grocery chains
Pioneering supermarket entrepreneurs provided relatively low prices to cost-conscious consumers during the Great Depression. These grocery chains transformed how North Americans bought their food and how businesses sold it to them.
Before the 1930’s, “mom-and-pop” grocers faced a challenger: the chain store. Chain stores were approximately the same size as independent, family-owned stores, but they offered lower prices by buying in bulk, reducing home delivery, and limiting credit. The chain-store concept was so successful that the industry leader, A&P, operated nearly sixteen thousand stores by the early 1930’s. Many of the old ways of doing business remained: A counter stood between the goods and the customer, and store clerks sold their highest-margin goods to shoppers.
The Great Depression created an opening for entrepreneurs who could meet the consumer demand for relatively low prices. In 1930, Michael Cullen, manager of a Kroger grocery chain store in southern Illinois, outlined his concept of the self-serve supermarket to Kroger headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. Cullen’s bold plan involved replacing the small stores with “super markets” that were ten times larger. The Cullen plan would eliminate all credit and delivery and let customers pick out their own goods from the open shopping floor. No more clerks and no hard sell of high-margin items would be necessary. The chief appeal of the Cullen plan was low prices, a variety of goods, impulse buying, and parking lots to draw from a large consumer base.
After Kroger rejected Cullen’s plan as too risky, Cullen left to create the first “King Kullen” store in Queens, New York. Selling only brand-name items, he let the national manufacturers do his advertising for him. Boasting that he was the “world’s greatest price wrecker,” Cullen delivered on his promise of low prices. By the time he died in 1936, he had fifteen stores. Meanwhile, brothers Robert and Roy Dawson started the Big Bear supermarket chain out of Elizabeth, New Jersey, declaring themselves to be the “price crusher” in the grocery trade. The invention of the grocery cart by Oklahoma merchant Sylvan Goldman enabled shoppers to purchase far greater quantities than was possible in the earlier days of carrying goods by basket.
The established chains faced an enormous challenge from these supermarket upstarts. Clearly, the future belonged to self-service selling. However, companies such as A&P, Kroger, and Safeway had an enormous investment tied up in existing stores. Nonetheless, all of the chains quickly adjusted and replaced thousands of stores with far fewer, yet larger supermarkets. Competition kept margins low, but sales soared and more than made up for lost profits.
Other factors contributed to the advent of supermarkets during the 1930’s. Gasoline was cheap, and most Americans could drive on the one million miles of road paved during the 1920’s and 1930’s. The refrigerator became a common household appliance during the 1930’s. This allowed for additional sale of frozen-food items.
“Mom-and-pop” independents fought back with antichain-store legislation, including state taxes on each unit operated by a national chain. This strategy backfired because it accelerated the move to reduce the number of units and replace them with supermarkets. In the end, family-owned groceries joined the supermarket revolution of the 1930’s. Forming voluntary chains, such as Independent Grocers of America, the family businesses developed their own brands, bought goods in bulk, and imitated all other supermarket methods. This enabled many to survive.
Supermarkets rose swiftly and soon professionalized their trade. In 1937, they joined to found the Super Market Institute and publish a trade journal, Super Market Merchandising.
Impact
Supermarkets were a response to the hard times of the 1930’s. They highlighted how business success was still within reach for ambitious entrepreneurs. Although the supermarket frightened independents and chain stores alike, shoppers voted with their dollars and forced a permanent change in the way they bought consumer goods and in the way goods were sold.
Bibliography
Bowlby, Rachel. Carried Away: The Invention of Modern Shopping. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002.
Sicilia, David B. “Supermarket Sweep.” Audacity (Spring, 1997): 10-19.
Tedlow, Richard S. New and Improved: The Story of Mass Marketing in America. New York: Basic Books, 1990.