Temperamental self-service checkouts, sleek deli counters and harried shoppers rushing between the aisles – that's the image of the modern American supermarket. But the look and feel of these superstores has changed considerably over the decades. We take a trip down memory lane with 30 historic photos.

While the bizarrely named Piggly Wiggly is not America's biggest supermarket today, it's widely credited as being the first self-serve grocery store in the United States. Before Piggly Wiggly opened its doors in 1916 in Memphis, Tennessee, store clerks would take a list from customers and gather the required products themselves. Piggly Wiggly, with its carefully stacked shelves, turnstiles and wooden shopping baskets, was something of a revolution.

By the 1940s, and despite the Second World War, Piggly Wiggly was thriving with rows of shelves brimming with price-marked products (also a novel concept). Modern shopping carts with space for accompanying children were also introduced by Piggly Wiggly.

As the customer was now in control, the appearance of shelves and the branding of the products mattered a great deal more than it once did. Shelves would be stacked invitingly with attractively branded items flaunted in prime positions. By now, other big-name stores had also jumped on the self-service band wagon, including Safeway and King Kullen – King Kullen maintain that they were the first true modern supermarket given their model of selling a high volume of products at low prices.

Competition between supermarkets would continue to drive down prices making these stores synonymous with deals and discounts, as they still are today. After the war, the number of households who owned a car rose significantly – supermarkets responded with sprawling car parks and larger-than-life signs that would catch drivers' attention from the road.

By the end of the 1950s, the layout of supermarkets like Piggly Wiggly looked much as they do today. Store clerks placed glossy magazines and colorful confectionery close to the entrance to immediately entice visiting shoppers. Today more than 600 Piggly Wiggly stores are still open across Southern and Midwestern states in the US.

Another early pioneer of the self-serve model, Kroger is an American supermarket heavyweight today. But the chain wasn't always characterised by mammoth shops. The brand began life in 1883 as a single 17-foot grocery store in Cincinnati, Ohio. This humble storefront in Whitmore Lake, Michigan is a classic example of a small 1940s Kroger 'supermarket'.

Big or small, Kroger would transform the concept of the American supermarket. Proprietor Barney Kroger was the first store owner to sell meat alongside other groceries (before, customers would have had to visit a separate butcher's shop) and he also baked and sold his own bread – a trailblazer of the now common in-supermarket bakery. By the 1940s, Kroger had hundreds of stores across the US, including this blink-and-you'll miss it spot in Worthington, Ohio.

Kroger innovated from the outside too. By the 1950s, the classic Kroger supermarket was bigger and bolder than in previous decades, with lengthy storefronts and an unmissable sign with modern lettering. Catering to the needs of customers, Kroger was also the first supermarket to introduce a store that was entirely surrounded by parking lots.

Kroger was the first supermarket to introduce open dating of products and also the first to push products through rigorous and scientific quality-control tests. By the 1950s, Kroger had begun to take the shape of the hulking modern supermarket we recognise today. Now the United States is home to 2,500 stores from California to Connecticut.

Safeway's simple red and white logo is a common sight across the USA today and the chain dates right back to 1915. Marion Barton Skaggs bought a small grocery store from his father, growing a network of shops under the original name Skaggs. In the 1920s, Skaggs merged his burgeoning business with the existing Safeway Stores, and Safeway Inc. was born. By the 1940s, Skaggs had retired from the company but Safeway stores, like this one in Deer Lodge, thrived across the States.

By the 1960s, Safeway was an international brand with stores in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia. Size mattered to Safeway, and it focused on expanding its stores with an average supermarket holding some 700 items and stretching for 1,000 square feet.

Safeway supermarkets were known for being uber-modern, with state-of-the-art checkouts operated by efficient staff. Unlike many of their competitors, they also operated on a cash basis from the outset – in the early days of supermarkets, it was common for stores to run on credit, running the risk of customers falling into debt. In the 60s, Safeway also trialled onsite drug stores, as well as opening entire gourmet food-focused shops.

Safeway were also early instigators of the "Bring Your Own Bag" policy, now commonplace across the States. In the 1970s, a paper-bag shortage at the chain had some stores urging customers to bring along their own. Today Safeway operates under Albertsons Companies LLC with hundreds of stores mostly in central and western states.

Albertsons, Safeway's parent company, has its own rich history too. The first Albertsons store opened in 1939 in Boise, Idaho's capital, and immediately impressed the paying public. Early Albertsons stores included generous free parking lots, oodles of discounts, built-in ice-cream parlours and large departments for sought-after products like cheese and meat.

By the 1950s, large bakery departments with fresh goods made onsite were commonplace for Albertsons stores, as they still are today. Now, the company is a supermarket titan with numerous subsidiaries and 2,000-plus locations.

Today Walmart is a modern supermarket giant and one of the best-known stores in America. The famous shop had humble beginnings, though: the supermarket chain started life as a single store in Bentonville, Arkansas, named Walton's 5&10 (today this shop is The Walmart Museum). It was founded in 1950 by Oklahoma business man Sam Walton who had big plans for its future.

The original shop went from strength to strength and in 1962 Walton founded the first Walmart store. By the 1980s, Walmart had expanded across the entire country and beyond, and had become a household name. Not satisfied with solely trading groceries, though, Walton also had the stores sell jewelry, automobile products and pharmaceuticals. The supermarket's USP was its low, low prices.

The growth didn't let up, either. In the 1980s, the company established the first Sam's Club venue, a members-only wholesale warehouse with almost 600 locations today. Walmart also opened its first gigantic "supercenter" in 1988 in the city of Washington, Missouri.

The supercenter extended across a whopping 129,000 square feet and, as well as shelves filled with groceries, it included fast food joints, hair salons and cell-phone stores. Walmart's range of own-brand products, from dog food to fizzy pop, continued to expand too.

By the time Sam Walton passed away in 1992, Walmart had established itself as the leading supermarket brand in the USA. Today there are more than 11,000 Walmart locations worldwide, including some 3,500 supercenters in the USA.

Wegmans has its roots right back in 1916 when John Wegman opened the Rochester Fruit & Vegetable Company in the city of Rochester, New York. John's brother Walter went into business with him a year later and the pair set about expanding the company. By the 1950s, Wegmans operated a network of stores around the area, all of which were self-service shops selling groceries, meat and bakery items.

From the 1950s onwards, Wegmans developed with impressive speed. Various stores included mod cons such as air conditioning, cash registers able to complete calculations, automatic doors and children's play areas. By the 1960s "frosted" (frozen) goods and TV dinners were a staple of American life and Wegmans made sure their stores were stocked accordingly. 

The first service deli in a Rochester-area supermarket was introduced by Wegmans in 1962. An extremely modern concept for the age, the supermarket deli included a whole host of gourmet delights, from barbecued meats cooked before the customers' eyes to fresh pies baked onsite.

Another leap forward came in 1974, when Wegmans became the third store in North America to introduce UPCs (Universal Product Codes) or barcodes onto its items. This laser technology, now commonplace the world over, was groundbreaking in the 1970s. Wegmans today remains one of America's best-loved supermarkets with almost 100 branches, mostly in New England and Mid-Atlantic states.

Another supermarket chain to spring up in the 1930s, Publix was founded by businessman George Jenkins, who opened the first location in Winter Haven, Florida. The store was an instant success, riding out the Great Depression with relative ease, and Jenkins opened a second, budget-focused location just five years later, in 1935.

The first fully-fledged Publix supermarket opened in 1940 and was kitted out with the latest technology, from an early surround-sound music system to air con and automatic doors. Rapid growth throughout the 1950s and 1960s, during which time Publix expanded into Miami, Jacksonville and other Floridian cities, established the chain as the top supermarket brand in the state.

In addition to groceries and frozen goods, Publix was known for its fresh bakery items and its beautiful in-store flower shops. During the early 1990s Publix opened its first location outside of Florida and today its 1,250 locations are spread out across America's Southern states. Modern iterations often include extras such as sushi bars and cozy coffee shops.

This black-and-white shot of Jacksonville's Lovett's Supermarket looks altogether different from the modern Winn-Dixie stores of today. But it has a lot to do with the history of the popular Winn-Dixie brand, whose origins lie with William Milton Davis, an entrepreneur who started an empire with a single store in 1914. 

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William Milton Davis passed away in 1934, leaving behind the small chain of stores he'd built up by this point to his four sons. The savvy brothers used their father's initial investment wisely, buying the existing 73-strong chain of Winn & Lovett stores, which included this bustling Jacksonville location, with its popular meat counter. The Winn-Dixie name was eventually taken on in the 1950s, when the brand added the large Dixie Home chain to their bursting portfolio. 

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Though the brand has suffered financial difficulties and closures in its more recent history, through much of the 20th century, it went from strength to strength. Winn-Dixie snapped up numerous chains across many Southern US states, from Texas to Louisiana and Mississippi. Today just under 500 Winn-Dixie locations remain. 

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