We’ve come full circle

There is an old saying, “What goes around, comes around.”
Almost 60 years ago, when I was much younger, there were neighbourhood grocery stores on almost every corner in town. They served the neighbourhood and the families that owned the stores knew all of their customers by their first name.
The husband manned the meat counter while the family looked after stocking the shelves with the fresh produce and products that came from the local wholesalers.
In most cases, it was the woman of the household who made the call to the grocery store and placed her family’s order for the week. Store clerks would go around and fill the baskets, which would be delivered that same day.
On Scott Street alone, in a two-block stretch, the Electric Bakery, Food Basket, Shop Easy, Bernardi’s, and Safeway looked after their customers. In the east end, Einar’s, Filmore’s, and Patrick’s looked after the customers from that area.
Similarly, Fairway, Tompkins Solo, and Cloverleaf grocery store in Emo carried on deliveries.
One of the benefits of all those little grocery stores was that one could phone their orders in for groceries and meats, and the family would deliver them to your home (I believe that Einar’s still provides that service).
When Safeway and Shop Easy moved to their locations on either side of Scott Street at Victoria Avenue, one could shop at the store and both Safeway and Shop Easy would pay to have it delivered.
There was a small charge for the delivery but that eventually disappeared.
The large supermarket retailers were caught by surprise on Friday when Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, made a huge takeover offer for Whole Foods in the U.S. and Canada.
While the price of stock for Whole Foods jumped on exchanges, other large retailers like Metro, Empire, and Loblaws saw their stocks fall in price. Other large retailers like Costco, Target, and Walmart had their stock plunge in value, as well.
Amazon has been developing ways to accept orders for fresh meats and groceries, and have them delivered within 24 hours. Before its bid for Whole Foods, Amazon operated Amazon Fresh, which allowed grocery shoppers to buy their groceries online and then pick them up in person.
In the U.S., a company known as “Chef’s Plate” allows for online shopping and immediate delivery of meals with all the ingredients as planned by a chef. The meals are delivered weekly.
In Germany, a company has been operating in both Berlin and Munich that allows shoppers to purchase their groceries online and have them delivered to their home the same day.
Today, Walmart, Target, and Costco all have begun planning to see if they can follow Amazon’s push into grocery delivery and to follow the example of all those little family grocery stores that delivered to homes in the 1940s, ’50s, and early ’60s.
I might expect that the Metro, Sobeys, and Loblaw grocery families also will be rethinking how to catch those online grocery shoppers.
Yes, we have gone full circle.