Grocery stores have undergone significant changes over the past decade.  Fifteen years ago, if a recipe called for a rare ethnic ingredient, you would have to search all across town for it; now the average mega mart has most of the ethnic ingredients you could ever want.  For years, grocery stores veered away from the old time service meat and deli counters and focused on self serve.  The size of the grocery store has expanded at a rapid rate; the average mega mart is around 50,000 square feet.  The stores started to feel less inviting and more sterile, much like a warehouse.  Grocery chains seemed to have lost touch with the customer.  Now jump to the present: the grocery store of 2009 is no less than a one-stop shop with all the bells and whistles.  Our grocery stores of today supply us with fresh food, dry goods, prepared foods, toiletries, housewares, clothes and even banks.  They have come a long way, and so have the designs.