Supermarket Fun

 One of the few things that remained open through the whole pandemic was supermarkets.  Arts related businesses, schools, restaurants and bars, many local stores- all had hours cut back or went out of business. A lot of the products that people buy at supermarkets were in short supply for reasons that have yet to be explained, but the stores remained open.  People to need to eat, which is one of the theories behind my supermarket series of prints- people need to buy food and so everyone shows up eventually, which means you will eventually see some odd behaviors there.  Started the series back in the late 90's, have shown them in dozens of places, but still haven't run out of ideas.  The last block was about odd things related to the current crisis, but supermarkets continue.

Should they? More convenient than what came before. In the old days, food shopping was done at small stores, a lot of them. Shopping for a family might include a grocery store for dry goods (canned or boxed items), a butcher shop for meat, a produce stand for fruits and vegetables, a bakery for bread, etc.  The idea came that if all these things were in a single location,  simpler for shoppers.  The first major chain was A&P, which had started as tea and coffee supplier, but it caught on.  Soon they were everywhere in the country, and the chain had become one of the most successful corporations in America. The chain grew bigger and the individual stores got bigger.  A downfall was inevitable, but I'll save that story, and the artwork that I plan to make from all this, until tomorrow.