It does not matter where in the developed world one lives nor whether one is male or female, straight or otherwise, of European descent or already part of the cultural & ethnic mix that our descendants will turn into – supermarkets are never far from our mind. The hunter/gatherers of prehistoric times pursue these activities within supermarkets today. Supermarkets have, depending whom one wishes to believe, a market share of between 60-85% of the total food business. Yes, I know that there are variations and fluctuations based on store departments, store location and the competence level of store management, but I am talking averages here. My favourite source of semi-reliable information, Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarket), suggests that
“a supermarket is a self-servicestore offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments. It is larger in size and has a wider selection than a traditional grocery store and it is smaller than a hypermarket or superstore.”
Whilst one usually has to take wikipedia with a grain of salt as all and sundry are able to edit contributions on-line , I am sure that most readers would agree with this description as being fairly accurate. Let’s see what else wikipedia has to say on the topic to help us better understand what a supermarket is – and equally as important, what it is not!
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