<P> It has been determined that the first true supermarket in the United States was opened by a former Kroger employee , Michael J. Cullen , on 4 August 1930 , inside a 6,000 - square - foot ( 560 m ) former garage in Jamaica , Queens in New York City . The store , King Kullen , operated under the slogan `` Pile it high . Sell it low . '' At the time of Cullen 's death in 1936 , there were seventeen King Kullen stores in operation . Although Saunders had brought the world self - service , uniform stores and nationwide marketing , Cullen built on this idea by adding separate food departments , selling large volumes of food at discount prices and adding a parking lot . </P>
<P> It has been determined that the first true supermarket in the United States was opened by a former Kroger employee , Michael J. Cullen , on 4 August 1930 , inside a 6,000 - square - foot ( 560 m ) former garage in Jamaica , Queens in New York City . The store , King Kullen , operated under the slogan `` Pile it high . Sell it low . '' At the time of Cullen 's death in 1936 , there were seventeen King Kullen stores in operation . Although Saunders had brought the world self - service , uniform stores and nationwide marketing , Cullen built on this idea by adding separate food departments , selling large volumes of food at discount prices and adding a parking lot . </P>
when was the first supermarket opened in usa
when was the first supermarket opened in usa
4 August 1930
4 August 1930