Grocery Shopping At Publix And Trader Joe's

Every American will likely set foot in a grocery store at some point in their life and more than likely, they will go to the grocery store at least once a week. Grocery shopping is an important life skill that individuals with special needs would benefit greatly from learning. There are many elements that go into grocery shopping that can be difficult for individuals with special needs to understand and it’s important that we teach these skills. I visited Publix, Walmart Neighborhood Market, and Trader Joe’s to learn about the ways these grocery stores are set up. While at these stores, I took notes based on the following skill list; location of carts, check-out lines, location of exists, ordering from the deli, locating specific food items,

Ordering at the deli is a great social skill as well as practical skill. Individuals with disabilities can learn how to address workers at the deli and how to politely ask for the meat/cheese that they need from the deli. Publix and Walmart Neighborhood Market both have deli’s towards the back of the store while Trader Joe’s does not have a deli in the store. The deli at Publix is well organized and staffed and I found that their deli was the most easily accessible and would be helpful to teach an individual with disabilities at. The deli at Walmart Neighborhood Market is slightly smaller and not as organized as Publix’s so it would be important to teach individuals with disabilities about different types of deli’s and how to navigate them. Another helpful skill to know is how to navigate the bakery in a grocery store. Like the deli, only Publix and Walmart Neighborhood Market had bakeries while Trader Joes does not. There are often samples in the Publix bakery as well as samples in the back of Trader Joes. Learning how to take just one sample and use safety and health precautions is a great skill to teach. In addition to the skill of ordering at the deli, individuals with disabilities should learn how to locate specific items around the store. All three of the stores I visited had hanging signs above the isles with isle numbers and a list of the items in each isle. While these signs would

The biggest differences I observed between the grocery stores I visited were found in the check-out lines. Walmart Neighborhood Market was the only grocery store with a self-check-out which I think is a great feature. Publix and Trader Joe’s each have friendly staff working at each of their check-out lines. In addition to the regular check-out lines, Publix also has an express line which is helpful when you’re checking out with only a few items. Check-out lines are another great opportunity for building social skills. Each store had an information/guest services desk located towards the front of the store which is helpful to teach individuals with disabilities because if they are having any problems, they can use this as a resource. One of the most important areas to locate in a store are the restrooms. Each of the three stores I visited had clear restroom signs and the restrooms were easily accessible. It’s important to have clear marked restrooms in order to avoid any