How Delhaize was once the first modern supermarket: “Customers serve themselves in the specially equipped shelves and the receipt gives the settlement of the purchases” | Interior

History seems to be somewhat cynically repeating itself. Once upon a time, tiny grocers made Delhaize big. Today, more than 150 years later, the department store chain sees no other chance of survival than to sell the 128 remaining stores under its own management to independent operators. Portrait of a pioneer who invented Europe’s first modern supermarket in 1957 and taught Belgians how to do their shopping.