This Week: Did You Bring Bottles?

American supermarkets are a resource we don't often think about in terms of pop culture. You go in and either: A) spend 30 minutes trying to find a jar of olive spread hidden in 50 aisles of mind-boggling crap, or B) lose yourself for an hour, spend a hundred bucks, and then by dinner time forget what it was that you bought. But pre-mega-mart grocery store chains do indeed have a history and a consumer culture all their own. David Gwynn, a 37-year-old web designer, has made grocery store culture his singular obsession. From his dank little room in San Francisco with the bay window overlooking a Toyota billboard, Gwynn has recorded this corner of retail history at Did You Bring Bottles?. There you can learn all that he has discovered about Alpha Beta, Piggly Wiggly, Lucky, and other grocery chains.

Supermarket history and architecture....
Why a site about supermarket history and architecture?

Why not? It's a topic I've found interesting since I was a kid, and I started the whole thing as a feature on one of my other sites. Supermarkets are such an important part of everyday life and yet no one pays much attention to them. You can find any number of books and sites on old motels, diners, train stations, or whatever, but no one much cares about the grocery store.

My college background is in urban geography and history, and I'm a big research geek. I like knowing what used to be where. And I'm fascinated by commercial architecture and urban commercial archaeology. And supermarkets over the years have had some of the most interesting architecture and design you're likely to find.

How did you first get interested in supermarkets?

When I was a kid in the 1970s, I was fascinated by the really old A&P stores which were still operating in my hometown in North Carolina. I also liked the other old stores in town (and even some of the then-newer ones). We used to play supermarket at my neighbor's house, and I always got to do the layouts and arrange the store.

Why has it turned into something of a personal fixation?

Everybody's gotta have a hobby, I guess. Keeps me out of the bars...

Is supermarket history an area of study that has been overlooked?

Definitely. I challenge you to find more than a couple of books on the subject. And most of what you'd find would be commemorative volumes issued by the chains themselves to celebrate an anniversary or whatever.

What kinds of resources are there for researching supermarket history?

I use what I can find. A big source for me is city directories, which are much more reliable than phone books, and allow you to do research by address. I've also picked up lots of items on eBay, such as internal supermarket publications, etc. My readers also give me lots of information.

What years would you define as the "golden age" of supermarkets?

I'm partial to about 1945 through 1970. That's when they started getting bigger and more elaborate, but before they went off the deep end. My favorites are the ones that were just starting to go out of vogue when I was a kid: with the big pylon signs and slightly garish color schemes. Most of these were in the 10,000-15,000 square-foot range, about a third or a fourth the size of most modern stores.

I also like the old mid-block stores in urban areas, which didn't even have their own parking lots. A lot of my friends are surprised when I point out a small store in a streetcar strip and tell them it used to be a Safeway.

What caused their decline?

The biggest factors were the desire for fewer, larger stores, and the continuing migration ever outward into more and more far-flung suburbs with abundant land. Groceries are extremely low-margin and require tremendous volume sales to turn a profit. Smaller stores just became less and less profitable, which is why so many older and smaller stores have converted to higher-margin specialty or ethnic formats.

How were old supermarkets preferable over current mega-supermarkets?

They were much more navigable and less overwhelming for the average human. And since they served a much smaller trade area, they weren't nearly so crowded. And they didn't try to be all things to all people.

How has supermarket design changed (beyond just size)?

Layouts are much more complex now, with more nooks and crannies, perhaps to try and make them seem less oversized and threatening. The layouts are more scientific, and some would say less logical. It's hard to navigate a modern supermarket when you only want one or two items in a hurry. I also find the designs a little less timeless, with too many trendy doodads, which is why they need to be remodeled every 5-7 years.

What do you think the current drive toward mega-supermarkets says about us?

More than anything it says we're more concerned with price than with personal service, and also that we're just too busy to visit more than one store to fill our needs. I remember that, even in the 1970s, grocery shopping involved several stores, one that had better produce, one with cheaper milk, etc.

I've been known to shop at the mega-centers too. They're cheaper, although not necessarily more convenient. And unless you're making an excursion of it, where the actual shopping is your entertainment, it's not terribly pleasant.

Have we lost something by converting over to mega-supermarkets?

Definitely. We've lost the convenience of relatively fully stocked neighborhood stores. And we've replaced the idea of clerks who actually know you with the absurdity of cashiers who ring you up, look at your receipt, and use the name on it to pretend they're your oldest friend.

What's your favorite former supermarket chain?

Of chains that no longer exist, I'd say Lucky (West Coast) and Colonial (East Coast) hold the most interest for me. But some of my real favorites still exist, albeit in altered form. Safeway is a good example, as is the much maligned A&P.

How have people responded to your site?

I do get a lot of comments, and I've heard from former employees. My site is mostly concerned with chain operations, so I don't get a lot of the "mom and pop" factor (which isn't my real interest anyway). I have had contact from several descendants of the originators of various chains, which is always interesting.

Where do you shop for groceries?

Almost invariably at Safeway. That's both because I like Safeway and because they have a near-monopoly in San Francisco. I try to shop the older and smaller stores where feasible. And I get around a lot when I'm out of the city.

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