On the left is the customer service desk, which apparently also sells smartphones (all the way from discount models to 900-euro iPhones!) and other electronics. This is definitely not a typical sight in Italian grocery stores, and I have to wonder how many of these they sell, especially with a dedicated electronics store right next door! Esselunga does have full-size hypermarkets, which is probably why they have electronics in their distribution system, but I have no idea why they would have them for sale in a store like this.
I think Europeans are more used to buying oddball general merchandise items in supermarkets than Americans are, which is why it was so novel that stores like Aldi and Lidl would sell some of the strange items that they do sometimes sell in their American stores. Of course, stores like Kroger do sell smartphones, but usually prepaid ones. Things might be a bit different in Europe where buying unlocked phones is a bit more common.
ReplyDeleteMaybe that varies by region, since I feel like most Italian grocery stores have even less general merchandise than US ones -- they tend to have very little in the way of cleaning supplies or health and beauty items, something that has caught me out a few times when I've needed things that I forgot to pack!
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