Lessons from the Grocery Store

Jul 16, 2015

Well, my little habit of taking pictures in inappropriate places may get me arrested, but until then, check out this latest find: A great innovation at my local Giant Supermarket!

That’s right — a reshelving system. As a person who spends a not insignificant amount of time at grocery stores, occasionally makes impulse grabs off the shelf, and then sheepishly decides at the register not to purchase something, I really do wonder how this came about. I’ve always worried the perishables would be wasted…

But fear not! Here, the cashier must return my, ahem, reconsidered items to the appropriate bin. I imagine there is also a “runner” to reunite stuff with its rightful location. What a fantastic idea.

It’s easy to see how this reshelving system could help keep things Together in a few other locations as well:

1. Classrooms. For the random odds and ends that need to be returned to other classrooms, the office, the library, the teachers’ room, and so on. You could label some bins accordingly, toss stuff into it in the moment, and then get a student helper to deliver the bin to the right office at the right time.

2. My House. Our home is three floors, and stuff always works its way onto other levels. It would be incredible to have bins at the stairs that said “Basement,” “Main Floor,” and “Second Floor.” Then, any of us could take the bin and reshelve as needed. I am sure there is some home organizing blog somewhere that has good ideas for this.

3. A Main Office. If your school or organization has some kind of front office, how about bins for “Classrooms,” (maybe sorted by grade or subject), “Cafeteria,” or “Parents?” That way, instead of making multiple trips around the school or office, a person could make just one.

Anyone else had any success with getting things back where they belong without just giving up and growing a big fat box of junk? Like ummm. . .  my odds and ends box from the move?