Supermarket Most supermarkets need a very large floor area, sometimes at least ten times as big as that of an ordinary shop. There are usually two doors, one as an entrance and the other as an exit. The rest of the side facing the street is largely of plate glass, with goods or advertising material displayed. The other three walls are normally decorated in light colours, giving an impression of cleanliness (清洁)and brightness. Most supermarkets are on one floor only. Goods being stored in rooms at the back or upstairs. At right-angles to the window stretch long structures about six feet high with a number of shelves on each side. Similar shelf units or frozen food containers extend round the wails. Broad aisles(通道)between the shelf units and ample (足够的)space between them and the window and also the far wall allow room for the circulation of many people; Individual commodities (商品), in tins, bags, boxes or other containers, are stacked (堆放) in groups on the shelves, and each group is labelled with a price ticket. Metal baskets near the entrance are taken by the shoppers who collect in them the goods they select from the shelves. Between the shelf units and the window in one half of the shops are a number of small counters about three feet high. Beside each sits a cashier (现金黄色出纳员), who operates a machine for reckoning, detailing the cost of each customer’s purchases. The customer places the basket at one end of the counter so that it can be emptied by the cashier who records the price of the commodities one by one, before putting each on a moving section of the counter top. The goods are collected and packed into the customer’s bag by another assistant at the end of the counter. The cashier finally hands a printed slip recording all prices to the customer, who pays the total, collects the bag and leaves. |