ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on Chicago, where thriving ethnic neighborhoods sustained a bevy of small grocers and where chains were making dramatic inroads by the end of the decade. Chain groceries' emphasis on price was certainly part of their appeal, but it was not all. Chains promised to remake the gender norms and gender relations which had placed such pressure on grocers and their customers. Scholars have long acknowledged the importance of chains as harbingers of a new age in distribution and consumption. Especially in white working-class and African American areas, the issues at stake in food shopping could go far beyond concern with low prices and immediate economic gain. Chains generally refused to grant credit, thus eliminating a notoriously expensive and time-consuming part of grocery store operations. Offered respite from the communal norms and tensions that permeated neighborhood grocery stores. The "institutional" advertisements of chain grocery firms reinforced the autonomy, efficiency, and distinctive benefits chain stores offered women.
