The new Sunmart supermarket at 2605 8th St. S. in Moorhead even has a children's play area dubbed Kid's Corner. All these services and product varieties need to be maintained while still keeping grocery prices affordable. After all, there's always a competitor around the corner. Hornbacher points out that when his father first got into the business in the '40s, people spent 20 percent of their incomes on food. Now we spend just 10 percent of our incomes on it.
Stores continue to make strides in check-out efficiency.
And technology is already here for self-checking, which allows customers to scan and pay for foods themselves. Rainbow Foods in Minneapolis was the first store in the region to add self-scanning aisles. In an era of basement-level unemployment, it also alleviates staffing shortages. Self-scanning is especially appealing to young shoppers, who loathe standing in line with a carton of milk behind the person with 400 items and 397 coupons. After all, despite the innovations, marketing and history behind it, grocery shopping is still just a household chore.