The primitives as usual are far behind the times.
One wonders if they'll ever catch up.
Grocery "merchandising" is one of the oldest of market manipulations; it's been going on for, oh, more than a hundred years, when some guy at a general store instead of putting regular merchandise in his big show-window, filled it with colorful stuff.
I'd just as soon grocers simply stocked shelves, the most-needed items being the most convenient for the shopper.
But that's not the way money's made (and to the lurking primitives: without money being made, no taxes can be collected, no wealth can be distributed to you); one has to sell lots of stuff to make money.
And so the groceries people are going to buy anyway (the "essentials"), no matter where they're put, are put in the worst areas, while the good areas are reserved for stuff people might not buy unless prompted (the "non-essentials").
As a consequence, I always have to go clear to the back of the store (which is why I prefer shopping at small grocery stores), where the milk, cream, butter, eggs, orange juice, cheese, sour cream, whatnot, are kept.
It's all market manipulation, and it's an ancient practice; the grocer's hoping that on my way back there, I'll see other things and buy them.
Fat chance.
