He knew your preferences. He would put things aside for you. He built his business through recognizing his customers and doing favors for them. Customers were loyal to these stores because of the recognition and personal attention they received. These small stores have been virtually wiped out through the advent of supermarkets.
Supermarkets have a much wider variety of goods.
The average grocery store had 800 SKUs on their shelves. Supermarkets today have 30,000 SKUs. Mass marketing took over. Prices came down. We have all gained.