One of my pastimes is watching documentaries about culture and humanities. Among various channels, NHK’s documentaries never let me down. And the good thing is, some programs can be streamed within a certain period on NHK World.
Recently, I have been obsessed with a program called “Hometown Stories” — stories about local people around Japan. I haven’t watched much though, some stories have left me with a touching impression.
One episode of the show is called “A ‘Truckful’ of food and smile.” It tells a story of a young woman as a grocery truck driver. Every morning, she drives around the town, sets up temporary grocery trucks to provide convenience for those who cannot (or don’t want to) go far to reach groceries.
We all know that one of the severest consequences of Japan’s urbanization is the ever-increasing number of super-aging suburbs. In such a situation, these aging suburban residents have urgent needs of approaching convenience stores with minimum effort and on a day-to-day basis.
I think the young woman in this story has come up with a fascinating business model. Instead of providing grocery delivery services, it’s better to shorten the distance between the store and the limited mobility customers. The benefit of the truck stores is not just about improving convenience but also offering tactile experiences to those aging residents. If they shop online, they mostly lose the opportunity to feel or touch the groceries physically and the chance to chat with shop owners, neighbors, or even the entire community.
The movable grocery store turns out to be popular because it is indeed infused with rich business values and humanistic perspectives.