How modern groceries work?

There was a time when Liverpool Road in Irlam was a bustling high street like any other in Britain, with dozens of local businesses, butchers, bakers, grocers and the rest. And like other high streets around Britain, retail trade has virtually disappeared leaving a trail of abandoned shops and derelict sites. Of course the loss of industrial employment had a major impact in the 1970s. But at the end of this decade Irlam had the dubious pleasure of welcoming the country's first 'hypermarket' a vast football pitch sized Tesco. Today the store has been rebuilt as a huge Tesco Extra, complete with a dodgy mezzanine level which adds a third to the floor space. The store is packed with everything you might need and sold as cheaply as possible. Although we might enjoy the opportunity to buy a tin of bins at 6p a pop, the cost to the high street has been devastating. As such Liverpool Road has never recovered its status as a retail area as local business finds it impossible to compete with this retail giant on their doorstep. The cosy 1950s image of the traditional British high street of friendly grocers, selling fresh local produce have long gone. Groceries is now big business, wrapped up in the world of global finance. It is perhaps no surprise then, that Tesco's Irlam store is now actually owned by Standard Life Investments - sold for just under £50m in January this year, as big city financiers rush to invest in long term and secure investments.

Source: Standard Life Investments buys Tesco Extra in Shrewsbury - Property Week