Supermarket of the future?

Bloom, a chain of Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern supermarkets owned by Food Lion, is designed to create a "convenient, hassle-free, and novel shopping experience" that lets shoppers get in and out fast, navigate easily, and sidestep long lines.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"We spent two years surveying customers in the U.S.and Europe, asking them what they wanted in a grocery store," says Karen Peterson, a Bloom spokeswoman. Twenty-eight Blooms opened in 2007, joining 33 already in existence.

We sent a reporter to a store in Leesburg, Va. His conclusion: Supermarkets everywhere could learn from Bloom.

It's convenient. Parking spots near the entrance are reserved for families with small children and customers who plan to be in and out in 20 minutes. Shelves are about a foot lower than at most stores, and aisles are about a foot wider than usual, with few displays to block traffic.

It's high-tech. Touch-screen displays at kiosks let you check prices (Peterson says prices are comparable to those at Food Lion), find products, match food with wine, even scan a bar code to get recipes using that food. You can make a shopping list online at www.shopbloom .com and print it at the store. The list notes the aisle for each item.

It makes sense. You don't have to crisscross the store to find what you need. Most foods are on one side, nonfoods on the other. Organics are in one section along the store's perimeter. Milk is actually near the checkout, so you needn't wend your way to the back of the store. Carts display the store's floor plan.