THE
INNOVATION OF MODERN STORES
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A
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At the
beginning of the 20th century, grocery stores in the United States were
full-service. A customer would ask a clerk behind the counter for specific
items and the clerk would package the items, which were limited to dry
goods. If they want to save some time, they have to ask a delivery boy or
by themselves to send the note of what they want to buy to the grocery
story first and then go to pay for the goods later. These grocery stores
usually carried only one brand of each good. There were early chain stores,
such as the A&P Stores, but these were all entirely full-service and
very time-consuming.
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B
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In 1885,a
Virginia boy named Clarence Saunders began working part-time as a clerk in
a grocery store when he was 14 years old, and quit school when the
shopkeeper offered him full time work with room and board. Later he worked
in an Alabama coke plant and in a Tennessee sawmill before he returned to
the grocery business. By 1900,when he was
nineteen years old, he was earning $30 a month as a salesman for a
wholesale grocer. During his years working in the grocery stores, he found
that it was very inconvenient and inefficient for people to buy things
because more than a century ago, long before there were computers, shopping
was done quite differently than it is today. Entering a store, the customer
would approach the counter (or wait for a clerk to become available) and
place an order, either verbally or, as was often the case for boys running
errands, in the form of a note or list. While the customer waited, the
clerk would move behind the counter and throughout the store,select
the items on the list—some form shelves so high that long-handled grasping
device had to be used—and bring them back to the counter to be tallied and
bagged or boxed. The process might be expedited by the customer calling or
sending in the order beforehand, or by the order being handled by a
delivery boy on a bike, but otherwise it did not vary greatly. Saunders, a
flamboyant and innovative man, noticed that this method resulted in wasted
time and expense, so he came up with an unheard-of solution that would
revolutionize the entire grocery industry: he developed a way for shoppers
to serve themselves.
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C
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So innew
“cafeteria 1902 he moved to Memphis where he developed his concept to form
a grocery wholesale cooperative and a full-service grocery store. For
his grocery”, Saunders divided his
grocery into three distinct areas: 1) A front “lobby” forming an entrance
and exit and checkouts at the front. 2) A sales department, which was
specially designed to allow customers to roam the aisles and select their
own groceries. Removing unnecessary clerks, creating elaborate aisle
displays, and rearranging the store to force customers to view all of the
merchandise and over the shelving and cabinets units of sales department
were “galleries” where supervisors were allowed to keep an eye on the
customers while not disturbing them. 3) And another section of his store is
the room only allowed for the clerks which was called the “stockroom” or
“storage room” where large refrigerators were situated to keep fresh
products from being perishable. The new format allowed multiple customers
to shop at the same time, and led to the previously unknown phenomenon of
impulse shopping. Though this format of grocery market was drastically
different from its competitors, the style became the standard for the modem
grocery store and later supermarket.
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D
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On September
6,1916,Saunders
launched the self-service revolution in the USA by opening the first
self-service Piggly Wiggly store, at 79 Jefferson Street in Memphis,
Tennessee, with its characteristic turnstile at the entrance. Customers
paid cash and selected their own goods from the shelves. It was unlike any
other grocery store of that time. Inside a Piggly Wiggly, shoppers were not
at the mercy of shop clerks. They were free to roam the store, check out
the merchandise and get what they needed with their own two hands and feet.
Prices on items at Piggly Wiggly were clearly marked. No one pressured
customers to buy milk or pickles. And the biggest benefit at the Piggly
Wiggly was that shoppers saved money. Self-service was a positive all
around. “It’s good for both the consumer and retailer because it cuts costs,” noted George
T. Haley, a professor at the University of New Haven and director of the
Center for International Industry Competitiveness. “If you looked at the
way grocery stores were run previous to Piggly Wiggly and Alpha Beta, what
you find is that there was a tremendous amount of labor involved, and labor
is a major expense/1 Piggly Wiggly cut the fat.
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E
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Piggly Wiggly
and the self-service concept took off, Saunders opened nine stores in the
Memphis area within the first year of business. Consumers embraced the
efficiency,the simplicity and most of all the
lower food prices. Saunders soon patented his self-service concept, and
began franchising Piggly Wiggly stores. Thanks to the benefits of
self-service and franchising, Piggly Wiggly ballooned to nearly 1,300
stores by 1923. Piggly Wiggly sold $100 million — worth $1.3 billion today
— in groceries, making it the third-biggest grocery retailer in the nation.
The company’s stock was even listed on the New York Stock Exchange,
doubling from late 1922 to March 1923. Saunders had his hands all over
Piggly Wiggly. He the design and layout of his stores. He even invented the
turnstile.
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F
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However
Saunders was forced into bankruptcy in 1923 after a dramatic spat with the
New York Stock Exchange and he went on to create the sole-owner-of-my-name”
chain, which went into bankruptcy.
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G
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Until the
time of his death in October 1953,Saunders was
developing plans for another automatic store system called the Food
electric. But the store, which was to be located two blocks from the first
Piggly Wiggly store, never opened. But his name was well-remembered along
with the name Piggly Wiggly.
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Questions 1-5
Which paragraph contains the following
information?
Write the correct letter A-G in boxes
1-5 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than
once.
1
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How Clarence Saunders,new idea
had been carried out.
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2
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Introducing the modes and patterns of groceries before his age.
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3
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Clarence
Saunders declared bankruptcy a few years later.
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4
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Descriptions of Clarence Saunders’ new conception.
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5
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The
booming development of his business.
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Questions 6-10
Answer the questions below.
Write ONLY ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER
from the passage.
6
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When Clarence Saunders was an adolescent, he took a job as a
……………………………. in a grocery store.
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7
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In the new innovation of grocery store, most of the clerks’ work
before was done by………………………
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8
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In
Saunders’ new grocery store,the
section where customers finish the payment was called ………………….
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9
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Another area in his store which behind the public area was called
the …………………., where only internal staff could access.
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10
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At………………………..
where customers were under surveillance.
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Questions 11-13
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or
D.
Write your answers in boxes 11-13 on
your answer sheet.
11
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Why did
Clarence Saunders want to propel the innovation of grocery stores at his
age?
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A
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Because he
was an enthusiastic and creative man.
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B
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Because his boss wanted to
reform the grocery industry.
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C
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Because he
wanted to develop its efficiency and make great profit as well.
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D
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Because he worried about the
future competition from the industry.
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12
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What happened
to Clarence Saunders’ first store of Piggly Wiggly?
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A
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Customers complained about its
impracticality and inconvenience.
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B
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It enjoyed a
great business and was updated in the first twelve months.
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C
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It expanded to more than a
thousand franchised stores during the first year.
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D
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Saunders were
required to have his new idea patented and open more stores.
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13
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What left to Clarence Saunders
after his death in 1953?
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A
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A fully
automatic store system opened soon near his first store.
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B
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The name of his store the
Piggly Wiggly was very popular at that time.
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C
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His name was
usually connected with his famous shop the Piggly Wiggly in the following
several years.
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D
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His name was painted together
with the name of his famous store.
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