VETERAN GROCER REFLECTS ON HALF-CENTURY OF CHANGE; BUSINESS PICKS UP PACE, TECHNOLOGY, MAINTAINS SANDERS

The grocery business is changing.

Few people know more about those changes than Harold Sanders, who has been observing shoppers' habits in the grocery store for almost half a century.

One of the most evident signs of the times, Sanders said, is that shoppers are in more of a hurry now. "Everybody rushes in, fills up their carts and rushes out," he noted.

This hasn't always been the case, added Sanders, who retired Saturday from Schnucks, 11 S. Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau. "I can remember when a supermarket had only two or three check-out lanes. Lines would form all the way from the checkout counter to the meat department, and nobody got flustered. They would visit with each other until it was their turn at the counter."

Today's supermarkets have as many as a dozen lanes, and "that doesn't count a couple of express lanes for people with 12 items or less," said Sanders.

Sanders, liquor department manager at Schnucks, counts up 49 years and five months of grocery experience in all phases of the industry, from delivery boy for a small neighborhood grocery as a youngster to management of a large supermarket.

"I'll miss going to work," said Sanders, "but at the same time, I'm looking forward to playing with my `toys' antique cars, motorcycles and old toys."

"We'll miss Harold," said Dennis Marchi, manager of Schnucks. "He has been an asset to the store and to our organization. He has been a friend and a counselor to me and all associates in the store. He knew everybody and called them by name."

Sanders has seen many changes in the business.

"Computerization has to be the greatest change," he said. "Computers have made things easier in the supermarket operation. It got us away from having to stamp the merchandise and it can track items and keeps up with the inventory."

He cites an example.

"If we take an item which sells for $1.22 and put it on special for 99 cents, the computer can keep up with the movement of the item. We can quickly find out just how many of the items sold."

The bar code price makes checking a lot easier, too, noted Sanders. "Clerks don't have to check each item for a price," he said. "They just run the bar code over the computer reader."

Sanders added that the shipping of produce has resulted in fresher vegetables and less waste.

"There was a time when much of the produce was shipped packed in ice in refrigerated cars.

"We often had to sell produce the same day we received it," he said.

Now the produce is "hydro-cooled" in pasteboard boxes, and transported quickly from nearby warehouses, thus creating little waste.

One thing hasn't changed that much.

"People still want specially cut meats," he said. "They want a steak of certain thickness, a certain kind of roast beef or other cut meats. The deli counter here at Schnucks does a big business."

Pharmacies and liquor departments are fairly new to the grocery business.

"The A&P Supermarket had the first liquor department in Cape Girardeau," said Sanders. "Until the 1970s, supermarkets offered only beer."

Kroger, which is no longer in Cape Girardeau, provided the first pharmacy business in Cape, noted Sanders.

Frozen food departments have enlarged in supermarkets in recent years, he added. "The microwave oven has prompted this change."

Sanders first donned a grocer's apron when he was in his teens.

"I started delivering groceries on a bicycle for Hitt Grocery, a small neighborhood market in the 800 block of South Ellis," he said. "At that time, there were several small markets in the area, and all of them provided a delivery service."

Later, Sanders worked inside Hitt's Grocery.

"When the store closed and Harold Hitt started work at the A&P Supermarket, I followed him," said Sander. "I worked with A&P more than 30 years."

Sanders was manager of the A&P Supermarket until it closed in 1977.

"This was a tense time in my life," said Sanders, "I felt I still had something to contribute to the grocery business, but I was 50 years old and jobs were scarce.

"I was lucky," added Sanders. "I walked across the street, and Schnucks hired me. It's been a pleasure working here. I found the same friendly philosophy at Schnucks that I have always believed in."

Sanders served as manager of customer service for a few years at Schnucks, then was named liquor department manager.

"Sometimes, the grass looked greener on the other side," said Sanders, "But, I would do it all over again. I've enjoyed my career. I've gotten to know many people and have watched their families grow. We've shared some good times, and bad, with them."

Sanders said he now looks forward to turning his attentions to his hobbies.

"I collect antique cars and old toys," said Sanders, "but in recent years, I've put my hobby in the background."

Sanders plans to revive a couple of projects he put on the back burner several years ago.

"I have a 1941 Ford convertible and a 1935 Indian four-cylinder motorcycle that needs restoring," said Sanders. "And, I have a collection of old toys that I need to get reacquainted with."