50 • July | August 2026 • abasto.com THE SHOPPING CART REVOLUTION: PIGGLY WIGGLY AND SELF-SERVICE (1916) On September 6, 1916, a salesman from Memphis named Clarence Saunders opened the doors to a sto- re that would forever change the way the world buys groceries. He christened it with the most un- usual name in the history of retail: Piggly Wiggly . When asked why he chose that name, Saunders would reply mis- chievously, “So that people would ask exactly that question.” What was truly revolutionary wasn’t the name, but the concept: for the first time, customers could grab a basket and walk the aisles them- selves, selecting their own products from open shelves. There were no clerks to assist them; prices were marked on each item. Self-service wasn’t just more efficient, it was cheaper, and consu- mers embraced it enthusiastically. By 1923, the chain had 1,268 sto- res nationwide, with annual sales of $100 million. THE BIRTH OF THE SUPERMARKET OUT OF DESPERATION (1930) The Great Depression, which des- troyed millions of jobs and fortunes in the wake of the 1929 crash, was, paradoxically, the catalyst for one of the most important innovations in modern retail. In August 1930, an executive na- med Michael Cullen, rejected by his superiors at Kroger—who wouldn’t even read his proposal, opened the first supermarket as we know it to- day on his own: the King Kullen , in Queens, New York. With 6,000 square feet of floor space, merchandise stacked on inexpensive metal shelves, and rock-bottom prices, the store ge- nerated more than $10,000 in its first week. Cullen unashamedly bi- lled it as “the world’s largest food market.” WAR, RATIONING, AND THE BOX OF MACARONI (1940–1945) World War II put the food industry to the test like never before. Beginning in 1942, the federal government ra- tioned sugar, coffee, meat, cheese, butter, and other staples. Housewives learned to stretch every pound of meat and to culti- vate “victory gardens” in their bac- kyards. Against this backdrop of scarcity, a culinary legend was born: Kraft sold 50 million boxes of its famous pow- dered macaroni and cheese during the war years, with two boxes purchasable with a single ration coupon. It was che- ap, quick, and filled stomachs. THE GOLDEN AGE OF THE SUPERMARKET AND THE BARCODE SCANNER (1950–1980) The postwar period brought pros- perity, suburbanization, and auto- mobiles. The modern supermarket flourished: large stores with parking lots, fluorescent lighting, and aisles that seemed endless. In 1967, the first Trader Joe’s ope- ned in Pasadena, California, offering private-label products at prices un- usually low for a specialty store. The great technological revolu- tion came in the summer of 1974: the world’s first barcode scanner was installed at a Marsh supermarket in Troy, Ohio. The first item ever scan- ned in retail history was a pack of Wrigley’s gum. From that moment on, inventory management and the checkout pro- cess were never the same again. THE TRILLION-DOLLAR INDUSTRY AND THE DIGITAL FUTURE (1990–PRESENT) Today, the U.S. supermarket indus- try is one of the largest in the world. In 2025, consumers, businesses, and government entities spent $2.51 tri- llion on groceries. According to The FMI - Food Indus- try Association, total supermarket sales in 2024 exceeded $1 trillion , with approximately 45,575 stores nationwide. The average supermarket is 42,453 square feet and offers consumers nearly 31,795 different products. Walmart, with more than 4,700 sto- res, dominates the sector, with an- nual global revenue exceeding $ 572 billion. The 21st century has brought with it a new revolution: the digital super- market. In 2024, U.S. consumers spent nearly $59,000 million on grocery purchases through Walmart ’s onli- ne platform. 7.1% of all supermarket sales are now made online, and 35% of in-store transactions are comple- ted at self-checkout lanes—a digital echo of Clarence Saunders’ old Pig- gly Wiggly . In 250 years, the United States has gone from the grocer who jotted down his customers’ debts in a note- book to the algorithm that predicts what you’ll put in your shopping cart next week. The family dinner table has chan- ged, flavors have become globalized, and the supply chain spans every continent. But the original driving force remains the same as that which fueled those colonial markets of 1776: feeding a nation that never stops growing. • FOOD INDUSTRY • Continuation of page 48