REFLECTIONS ON THE RED & WHITE

Once upon a time in America... stores like the Marysville, Ohio RED & WHITE pictured here were a familiar part of the domestic landscape. They provided access to grocery goods in a customer-friendly format. The 1950's business model was directly opposed to that of today - many small stores served the needs of individual neighborhoods. It was an efficient, community-oriented mode of operation. Store managers were able to relate directly to their shoppers. There was no need for a real-time corporate datastream to provide direction. Workers who were productive on the sales floor eventually moved upward to positions of greater responsibility. The end result was a company structure populated with those who were intimately knowledgeable about the industry.

Today's food retailers offer a much broader selection of items than their prececessors. Display techniques, marketing schemes, and promotions have all taken a quantum leap from those used during the 'Golden Era.' Yet the customer interaction of yonder days has disappeared from most modern stores. While Whole Foods and Trader Joe's have made a concerted effort to reverse this trend, it seems sure to continue for the immediate future. The marketplace remains dominated by mega-sized operators like Wal-Mart. Still, as consumers, we can dream. "What if... our neighborhood stores came back again?"