Friday 14 August 2009

Berlin - a city with a supermarket for old men











Ever practical, the Germans have opened their first supermarket for senior citizens in Berlin.
I have some questions :

Will the idea catch on and spread to other German cities ?

Will the idea take hold in Britain ?

Would middle aged people shop there or avoid it for fear of being labelled as 'old' ?


Tescos, smelling potential money, have taken an interest in the findings and have submitted a planning application to develop a supermarket within the Campus for Ageing & Vitality on the former Newcastle General Hospital site.


This is all serious stuff. Nothing to do with making money out of old people. Apparently, 'the proposed mixed use of the Campus for research, commercial and retail use, will provide a unique opportunity to study an everyday activity which has important implications for healthy living'

And the 'Institute for Ageing and Health hopes this is the first step towards research looking at the ways in which older people shop and what they buy, giving scientists a better understanding of the relationships between nutrition and shopping behaviour and how more effectively to promote a healthy diet'.
All very laudable.

Leading the group visit, Professor Jim Edwardson, Chair of 'Years Ahead', said, “This will be an exciting opportunity to find out how supermarket shopping can be improved, not just for older people but for many others who could benefit. Retailers need to address the needs of an ageing population and the opportunities to support healthy lifestyles and independence – not just in relation to nutrition but across a wide range of other services that supermarkets increasingly provide.”


I must confess, the video clip did make me smile.


http//www.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=5628

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