75 years of the convenience shop: why do Brits love going to the shops?
Now, 2023 marks 75 years since the opening of the first ever convience shop. That first ever shop was the Co-op, and looks fairly different to the ones we recognise nowadays. Perhaps a turning point in community and society, back then, a customer would hand their shopping list to the shopkeeper who would gather the shopping. And the convenience store was so revolutionary that ‘how to shop’ had to be explained to shoppers. Research has since found that a quarter of us just love to live close to a convience store. And, talking to TV Presenter and self-proclaimed supermarket-lover, Cherry Healey, we discussed, why do we have an affinity for supermarkets?
Transcript
00:00 Taking a trip to your big supermarket tonight, you might be in the mood for a big food shop
00:07 or for just a little therapeutic mooch because research has found that we Brits love a look
00:12 around a big shop. Now 2023 marks 75 years since the opening of the first ever convenience
00:18 shop. That first ever shop was the Co-op and looks fairly different to the ones we recognise
00:23 nowadays. Perhaps a turning point in community and society, back then a customer would hand
00:28 their shopping list to the shopkeeper who would then gather the shopping. And the convenience
00:34 store was so revolutionary that how to shop had to be explained to shoppers. Yeah, really.
00:40 Researchers since found a quarter of us just love to live next to a shop. And talking to
00:46 TV presenter Cherry Healy, we discussed what is the affinity with supermarkets?
00:51 There's something primitive about going out and searching for our foods. You know, a long,
00:56 long time ago, we'd go out and we'd search for berries and people would hunt. And I think
01:00 that hasn't really left us. I think we like to go and see our food and choose our food
01:05 and give the avocado a squeeze and find deals and bargains. That's the part of the kind
01:11 of hunter gatherer process. And so with convenience, even, you know, I'm not a tech phobe and I
01:16 love modern technology and having a being able to do a big online shop is a wonderful
01:21 thing for so many people. But personally, I love a convenience store.
01:26 And when it comes to the typical jaunt to the supermarket, can it too be valued as something
01:30 to boost that sense of community?
01:32 I actually think it's become a really important part of community. We don't really use community
01:37 halls, I would say, in the way that we used to. But most people will go into their convenience
01:42 store and they will have human interaction of some description, which for some people
01:47 is a lifeline during the day. And I remember when I had really little kids and I, you know,
01:52 you feel quite isolated sometimes. Going into shops and having an interaction with people
01:56 was really welcome. And also often there's like a pinboard on the wall and that tells
02:03 people about volunteer projects and people who want to connect with other people. It's
02:09 become a really important part of society. Yeah, it's taken the place of a community
02:15 hub.
02:16 And while it hasn't come a long way since 1948, the convenience store continues to undergo
02:19 constant change.
02:20 I think for some people doing a big online shop is the way that they prefer to do it.
02:25 But for me, because it's just me and my son, it doesn't make sense to do a great big online
02:29 shop. And I find that there's a bag of lettuce that's going off at the back of the fridge.
02:34 Actually it makes much more monetary sense for me and him to do the school run. We go
02:38 to the shop, we choose something we love. We have that to eat. Leftovers, yes, maybe
02:43 we'll make it for two nights. But essentially we don't waste anything. We don't waste a
02:47 single drop. And also we really enjoy it. And I'm teaching him about food and he gets
02:52 excited about what we're having for supper when we talk about it. And it becomes a really
02:56 beautiful part of our routine.