There are a total of 35,372 different products on offer in a typical grocery store, according to a study published several years ago.

Today? Not so much.

The coronavirus pandemic has changed many of us from choosy shoppers who gaze upon shelves full of items, pondering the different varieties and flavors, into mission-focused shoppers who will grab whatever kind of toilet paper and canned foods we can find. As a result, there’s a renewed focus on the basics. Many manufacturers have drastically reduced the variety of items they’re producing, and many retailers have dramatically reducing the number of items they’re stocking.  Here’s the Coupons in the News article.  Jewel has started carrying giant cans of Heinz soup and those haven’t been on their shelves since buggy whips were in fashion.  My take – pah, don’t believe it.

No pix, ’cause it’s embarrassing for any family to have, frankly.  Made one trip with dog stuff to A.D.O.P.T., a trip to Goodwill (donation only, thank you very much) and then a second trip to A.D.O.P.T.

Stuff with tags, a Fendi purse with dust bag, new earrings & pin set (PITA received as a gift but never even took out of the box) and an entire collection of SpongeBob DVDs. More books that made the trip because spending month after month in lockdown makes you nuts.  Or should I say makes you appreciate how much stuff you have and don’t need and that’s what’s nuts …

If you’ve ever complained that there aren’t enough cashiers staffing the checkout lanes at your local Walmart, then a Walmart with no cashiers and no traditional checkout lanes at all might be just the solution.

It sounds counterintuitive, but it might turn out to be the very future of the in-store checkout experience.  Here’s a full look inside the Walmart test kitchen, so to speak, and the article I posted about it last month.