F irst came the gas pumps. Then the money machines. The other solution to shoppers is e-fulfillment to meet their needs.
Baby boomers can dimly recall a time when the corner grocer did it all.
The fellow was an expert at customer intimacy. He was on a first-name basis with his customers. The supermarkets of the 1950s hit the corner grocer with a torrent of variety and a hailstorm of discounted prices. Women switched roles from Rosie the Riveter, wartime factory worker, to June Cleaver, suburban housewife. They had time on their hands, and those long, colorful aisles beckoned.