Today, May 1, International Labour Day, I drove to ‘Globus’, which is a chain of supermarkets in Moscow.
These are pretty good, they offer a wide range of food and other non-food products. I think ‘Globus’ is better than ‘Perekrestok’ (which means ‘Crossroads’), a bigger chain. “Globus’ is huge, they offer more diversity, their choice of cheeses, meat products, and fish is great. The ‘Globus’ I went to is located in the south west of Moscow, at ‘Salaris’ mall.
So, today I bought – and my catch wasn’t wide, only for my late-night dinner:
- Six Nuremberg sausages
- Two bottles of lager
- Two tomatoes
- Romano salad
- Rye bread
This may look pretty austere and short, but I felt great as they have fantastic in-house production of various meat products.
Anyway, I only feel sorry that I don’t go there too often as this ‘Globus’ spot is a bit far from my usual shopping spots. Yet, visiting this place is like an adventure as I can find some cool food there that I didn’t know before.
A trip to my supermarket
There was a time when “popping to the shop” meant a gentle stroll to a village store where the bell chimed as you entered and someone behind the counter knew your name – and probably your business. These days, my local expedition involves a drive to a vast, out-of-town branch of Tesco or Sainsbury’s, where the car park alone feels like a small municipality. It’s less quaint, certainly, but undeniably efficient – if you can remember where you left your car.
Inside, the scale is something to behold. You can begin your journey in fresh produce and, several aisles later, emerge clutching a kettle, a jumper, and possibly an inflatable doll…. Supermarkets have quietly become department stores: groceries sit comfortably alongside clothing, homeware, electronics, and the sort of middle aisle curiosities that seem irresistible at the time and baffling once you’re home.
What hasn’t changed, reassuringly, is the British temperament. We queue, orderly, patient, and with a quiet understanding that the line must be respected at all costs. There’s a gentle choreography to it: a polite “after you,” a brief apology if a trolley wheel so much as glances another, and a shared tolerance when the person ahead decides to query the price of every third item. No one enjoys the wait, but we endure it with a kind of collective civility.
There’s also a certain rhythm to the experience. The meal-deal deliberation, the strategic navigation around abandoned trolleys, the subtle judgment of someone buying twenty tins of beans; it’s all part of the ritual. Even the self-checkout, with its passive-aggressive insistence that an “unexpected item” has appeared, is met with a resigned sigh rather than open revolt.
And yet, for all its convenience, something of the old charm has been left behind. The village shop offered conversation, familiarity, and a sense of place that a superstore can’t quite replicate. Still, as I load the car with everything from dinner ingredients to a discounted hoodie, I can’t deny the appeal. It may not know my name, but it does, rather impressively, sell me nearly everything else I might need. Or not need at all…….
A trip to my supermarket
I have a quick story before talking about supermarkets and grocery stores. It was my first visit to Perekrestok (Crossroads) supermarket in Moscow and I’m looking at everything like I’m on Mars, then… the plastic bag in that cart moved! Yeah, it moved! There! It did it again. But I need to be all super smooth and not act like exactly who I am. Towards the back of the store my mystery is solved: there is a huge aquarium filled with fish. To say that supermarkets around the world are several steps closer to the farm than American grocery stores would be an understatement.
Let me give you an example. In many Supermarkets around the world bread is baked in the back, bagged and brought out hot. And it’s not the crappy white, sliced stuff either. It’s heavy, uncut and filled with grain. Yes of course, white sliced is available… but it’s not what most folks buy. I don’t think I have bought it once. My market where I live in North Cyprus, Molto, has real, warm bread and that’s what I eat.
Don’t get me wrong, there are real advantages to American grocery stores. Want a bottle of aspirin? Don’t bother going to the supermarket, you need to visit the pharmacy. No bank, little selection and fruits and veggies must be in season or they are not available. Don’t ask for fresh pork.
I used to go to a nearby town named Kyrenia because there was a supermarket there that had pork. It was off in a side room, no sign, unmarked. There was this Vietnamese lady. “Me show you pork long time.” Here, just slip it into this brown bag and I’ll be on my way.
Wait a minute! I’m supposed to be talking about American grocery stores. It’s a mixed bag, some things I like better, some worse. Shopping carts, buggies, trollies, are free to use. Europe needs to take notes. I never got past paying a Euro to full up a cart so I could pay you more money. Damn, you guys would make great American billionaires: Screw them over before you actually screw them over.
Now that we have that buggy sorted, we can go inside. First, you’ll realize the average grocery store is maybe five times bigger than a supermarket. No veggie is ever out of season and nothing is ever unavailable. Remember, North & South America have reversed growing seasons. These stores are big. They almost always have several other businesses inside. I mentioned banks and pharmacies above, those may be the two most common. There are other things in a grocery store you’ll not find in a supermarket: kitchen wares would be a good example. Pots, pans, blenders, whatever… Aisle 12. By the way, they also have an Aisle 12.
I thought about this. Perhaps it’s because Yanks love cars. Then I did a little research. The typical US resident drives 3.8 miles to the store and people drive further in the UK. I thought about population per store: nope. I now favor the idea that these definitions may be a little fuzzy. Supermarket/grocery store/convenience store/corner market…., maybe that’s the real issue; where’s the line between these different store types?