"Pickup in Aisle 4"? For customers in a supermarket, that phrase over the PA can mean something entirely different. The grocery store, it turns out, has long been a "meet market."
A recent British survey found that 71 percent of men view grocery stores as a better place to find a date than pubs. But Americans also are no strangers to connecting around the kumquats.
"It is a natural," said Vivian King, a spokeswoman for Roundy's, which operates Rainbow Foods. "It's around something that people have in common. Several people make the same types of food, and you can have a conversation that's not intimidating."
That's especially true at co-ops.
"There's a fair amount of flirting here," said Elizabeth Archerd, director of membership and marketing for the Wedge Co-op in Minneapolis.
Liz McMann, Mississippi Market's manager of consumer affairs -- no, not those kinds of affairs -- noted that co-op shoppers not only like the same foods but "you know that [others] share some values with you, whether environmental or health or the treatment of animals."
She added that her store and other food outlets show up regularly in the "missed connections" on Craigslist. Recent postings included a search for the "attractive mature woman at Byerly's."
So even for those who don't find love among the mangoes, there's still hope.
