The Grocery Store

The grocery store in which I shop is a Japanese chain called Ito Yokado. It’s a modern, western style grocery store and at first glance would seem just like a smaller version of Dierberg’s or Kroger. I like it because of the carts. The carts are just small frames and are two levels. Instead of the basket being permanently connected, you place hand-held baskets in the frame and you can put one or two baskets in the frame depending on how many groceries you need. The carts are thus small and maneuverable and much better than American carts. The product offering at the store is much different than in the States (I mean, I am in China, so this was expected) and includes live turtles and chicken feet! The way they package and distribute meat is extremely different and I have yet to buy meat from the grocery store. Ground beef is placed in a huge pile in a refrigerated compartment and you just scoop out however much you want. There is lots of dried, pre-packaged meat and there are also a lot of cuts of meat that are just sitting out, unrefrigerated. If you want to cook meat, you have to really clean up the meat yourself, skills which most people in the US don’t have (no chicken breasts in nice little packages here!)

Whenever I go to the store, people stare at me and are extremely interested in what I’m buying. One time I was waiting in the produce weighing line (actually, Chinese people don’t have lines, they just bunch together and try to push their way to the front) and these two old ladies started rifling through my cart. They were examining everything I was buying and gossiping in Chinese, and would make faces at each other when they saw the prices of the most expensive things I was buying (I think that day it was pistachios, which were about $4 USD).

At the checkout, there are no conveyor belts. You place you basket on the counter and the worker takes each item out, scans it and says out loud the price (one time my checker-outer spoke English and took about 20 minutes to think about the numbers in English and say the prices out loud to me), then places the each item in a basket waiting on the other side of the register. You then take the second basket to a separate bagging station where you bag everything yourself, and you just leave your cart there and someone comes and puts it back for you. It’s very efficient and better than the American system in my opinion. But I don’t think it would work in America, because here people buy less than a basket full at a time whereas in the US people fill entire carts.

Pictures: Ground beef; live turtles in netting