People buy food in grocery stores daily. These foods mainly comprise of fruits, vegetables, dried cereals, and canned foods among others. Stalls sell spices and non-food items too. I recently went to a grocery store near my parents’ new home in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is called ‘Humble Aboard’ and is owned by a family of Mexican origin. In the grocery store, foods were displayed neatly, and a high hygienic standard was maintained. The display in the store is eye-catching.
Two long shelves are arranged along the walls of the store. In the mid section, there is a smaller long counter, leaving two aisles along which customers walk to buy fresh produce like green and ripe bananas, pumpkins, pineapples, green maize, tomatoes onions, potatoes, and green vegetables that are displayed near the entrance. Packed perishables like milk, yogurt, and cheese, are neatly displayed in the middle counter, in a clear glass enclosure.
They are maintained at relatively low temperatures by refrigeration. On the opposite wall, there are cakes, bread, sandwiches, cookies, and pies. The whole store setup is very attractive. As one goes in more on the fresh produce side, there are dry cereals like rice, beans, peas, and green grams.
Every time I visited the store for supplies, it was filled with customers. This shows a great dependence of the local folk to this store. The people around the grocery store depend on it to buy food supplies for their households. They get the goods at a relatively low price as compared to a nearby supermarket. This enables them to save on their money. Furthermore, since it is located near the people’s residence, it saves their time and energy when going to buy supplies.
By the fact that the store opens early and closes late in the night, the residents benefit from this since they can be sure of getting whatever they want in the odd hours. It is also well stocked. This increases the customer’s faith in it since they can be sure to get what they need anytime. The store management has identified loyal customers. They benefit from discounts, bonuses and credit services. The store maintains a high level of hygiene and preserves their merchandise in a standard way. Health regulations are adhered to.
Thus, customers are not at risk of getting diseases. The store has several motorbikes always on stand-by for customers who request for their merchandise to be delivered at the comfort of their homes. In the store, there are about ten people employed. Most of the employees, I was told, were suffering in poverty before employment. It has improved their living standards, giving them something to do, to avoid indulgence in crime.
The foods that go bad while on the shelves are sold at very low prices to the people who live around the store to feed their animals. The above mentioned are just some of the ways the grocery store affects the lives of the people around it. The most important aspect of this grocery store is its location. It is located along a busy street, making it accessible to a good number of people. The busiest time in the store is in the evening when people are going home from work; they stop by to pick one or two things to prepare for dinner and breakfast.
Its arrangement and display are also so awesome that it is hard for one not to notice it from far. This attracts many customers. Its sign board is painted in bright colors to indicate that it is well equipped, and customers can be assured to get most, if not all, of what they need in their kitchen refrigerators. In addition to these, the employees serve their customers in a good way, leaving them satisfied and willing to come back for the next shopping.
Prices are customer friendly, and the hygienic standards are perfect. The employees are treated well by the store owner, not overworked, and paid reasonable wages making their life comfortable. The above aspects favor the owner, employees, and customers. This can explain why the grocery store is a success story.
For the short time that I was in Albuquerque, I tried to do a personal evaluation of the grocery store in terms of location, display, customer care, prices, hygiene, stock and effects to the environment. It turned out that it was a positive result for all the above. The owner must have thought abut the store and done very good research on how to run it before putting it up.
This can be seen from how good the business is doing, and the fact that it attracts customers from all walks of life. The grocery store is almost similar to the grocery store we used to go to before my parents moved though it is larger. The difference in size means fewer people were employed in the one we used to go to as kids. The employees in both cases observe high hygienic standards. Except for the difference in size, both stores serve the people living near the same courtesy and warmth.