Grocery Stores - Aren't They Set Up Backwards?? (Serious)

[matcom]

Ok. Here is my theory. For those of us who eat meat and fish, wouldn't it make more sense to start OUT in the "main course" section rather than the "side dish" section (produce)?

Seems to me that would make it easier to 'plan' full meals (would for me anyway). You would shop for your meat and fish, move onto the pasta area (either for a meal or a side dish) and then hit the produce section for side dishes to accompany the main dish (or meals depending), then move onto dairy and bakery.

Grocery stores are set up deliberately with the produce first the fish and meat then bakery at the far end with everything else in the middle. Just wondering why that is. No big deal as obviously I start out shopping in the 'main dish' area but i'm curious.

Is there a reason for this?

[miss_american_pie]

1. To increase impulse purchases

I think.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

2. I always pick up my meat and dairy last

So they stay cold as long as possible.

[flvegan]

3. The stuff you think that you NEED is deliberately in the back.

That's dairy, eggs, produce and meat. If you're picking up "just milk and eggs" you have to go past all that other stuff. Impulse buying hopefully ensues.

[underpants]

8. Right- matcom google "grocery store design"

something like that. There is a complete science to this and it is changing-I used to know the entire layout of the store I went to most often and they completely overhauled it twice. They don't want you to know where everything is and they are doing everything they can to throw off the lines. Think of a Vegas casino and how there are no straight lines, you can literally get lost in one. Grocery stores are trying to do the same thing. They are sticking the pharmacy in the middle and they have quirky little set ups on either end to throw off any system you might have.

Bread and Milk are always as far apart as they can get them. Produce is usually the first thing you run into (working in a right to left fashion) but some stores are even messing that up. The displays in front of ( about 3 feet in the middle of the line area) the check outs are meant to further distract and disarray.

[matcom]

10. but at my store(s) bread and milk are right next to each other

:shrug:

same isle even

[izzybeans]

20. That will likely change as the store tinkers with its design (periodically)

They might separate them to see if this has an impact on sales.

The convenience stores in my town have the newspapers sitting next to the coffee and doughnuts. Birds of a feather...whether they flock together depends on the local culture.

I live in a town that thrives off of McD's, doughnuts and coffee. Moving the paper from the doorway to the back of the store next to the "ummm doughnuts" sets off the inner Homer Simpson in the good little consumer.

[NewWaveChick1981]

4. Yes. That's by design.

You have to pass by everything else in order to get to the "good stuff". Impulse purchases are made by people passing the regular items, and it means higher sales for the store. I took marketing classes and worked in a grocery store, so I learned a lot about the setup aspect. Also, the Muzak they play is supposed to get shoppers in a good mood so they buy more. :(

[Richardo]

5. The staples are always at the back...

...so you have to navigate through the entire store to get there, hopefully (for the store) picking up impulse items on your way to and from the back.

[LeftyMom]

6. Dear Fatty McCheeseburger, we like to make you walk. The noise your pants make amuses us.

Signed,
The Vast International Veg*n Conspiracy To Make You Walk Past Produce

[matcom]

7. LOL!

:spray:

[Arkansas Granny]

9. They arrange stores this way so you will have to cruise more of

the store to find the items you need, therefore, you will pass by more items that aren't on you list and be tempted to put them in your basket. That's one reason why the dairy case is usally located at the back of the store and quite some distance from the bakery department. If you just need a carton of milk and a loaf of bread, you will have to pass by a lot of merchandise in between.

[matcom]

11. see #10

:shrug:

[Arkansas Granny]

12. Nearly all the stores I've ever shopped in have had quite a

distance between the dairy and bakery. It sound like the grocery store you use might be an exception.

:shrug:

[emmajane67]

13. The thing is

where I come from it's laid out veges, bulk food, meat, dairy then other stuff.

This makes sense to me because, in theory, your trolley should be nearly full by the time you get to the 'other stuff' part of the supermarket.

Always amazes me how many people get to the chips/tacos/pasta/sauce etc part of the supermarket with a nearly empty trolley!

Surely, not matter what you're making you will need vegetables, meat (if you're that way inclined), perhaps some beans/rice/legumes/nuts etc.

[billyskank]

14. You don't want the entrance to the store smelling of fish

Just sayin'

[Left Is Write]

15. I put meat, dairy and frozen foods in my cart last.

So they spend less time out of the the refrigerator/freezer cases. I wouldn't want the butcher block to be the first thing in the store.

I plan meals before I go, then follow a list.

[ThomCat]

16. I don't know if I'd go into a supermarket

if I had to smell dead animals every time I walked in the door.
x(

The way things are set up now I can avoid the meat areas.

[Ediacara]

17. Because it's the racetrack

Besides like the real reasons of needing tons of storage space at varying temperatures, the "specialty" departments in the racetrack are also generally the highest profit departments in the store. The interior of a store is made up of grocery (which just means shelf stable food) and non-foods items. Not glamorous, designed to be on shelves, and generating very little profit. The stores know you need things in the interior, but want you to take the whole walk around the racetrack to maximize your spending.

[skygazer]

18. Well, in the store I work in, you can start from either end

Meat is to the left, produce to the right and there are doors on either side. People seem to go both ways (hell, early morning double entendres - well, I do live in the Bay Area).

Anyway, I'm sure some of it is deliberate as other posters have mentioned but there's also the fact that meat, produce and dairy are refrigerated and it makes the most sense to have those departments on the perimeter. Easier to set up the refrigeration and easier for the employees who have to go back and forth to their backroom areas to stock (dry goods tending to be stocked at night so the crew who does that can just bring it all on the floor and do it when there are no customers around). Bakeries and delis are also usually on the perimeter because they need a back area for storage and preparation.

So in addition to attempting to influence what you buy, the set-up is also designed so the company isn't paying employees to walk across half the store to get from their departments to their supplies. Time is money after all.

[izzybeans]

19. It increases your time in the store

The more you walk past the more you buy (theoretically). Convenience stores have now stopped putting the newspaper by the door. Now they are next to the coffee and doughnuts. Why? money.

I posted this a while back. It is not directly related but it is my experience with this issue.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1915169&mesg_id=1919591

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

21. Fresh foods are found on the perimeter of most stores, while

most dry, canned and processed food is found in the middle. I don't see how that can be backward.

[Threedifferentones]

22. Haven't you heard this before?

They set up stores so that anyone making a quick run in for "the basics," ie milk, bread, and meat, will have to traverse the entire store in order to get all three. This is done deliberately so that no matter what you go in for you will see everything they have for sale and be more tempted to buy something you don't need and didn't want before you entered the store.

[matcom]

23. well I knew THAT

just wondered why they want me to PLAN my meals with the side dishes/salad first