When did Self-Service Stores first appear?

Labor shortages and high inflation during World War I encouraged store owners to experiment with new self-service store designs.

Automats

Thomas Edison experimented with self-service store design inspired by vending machines and automats.

“Edison Plans an Automatic Clerkless Shop,” New York Times, May 15, 1910.

but vending machines were expensive…..

groceterias

Inspired by the way cafeterias served the masses in a systematic and economical way, some grocers began to arrange their grocery departments as “grocerterias” (also known as groceterias, basketerias, or marketerias). Turnstiles or gates created controlled entry and exit points and, like cafeteria lines, fixtures were arranged to steer customers onto prescribed pathways through the store to ensure that they saw as many goods as possible.

Triangle Grocerteria, Pomona California, Illustrated World, January 1916.

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