According to the Smithsonian Institution(史密森学会), the first true supermarket in the United States was opened by ex-Kroger(前Kroger) employee(雇员) Michael J. Cullen, on August 4, 1937, in a 6,000 square foot(平方英尺) (560 m2) former garage in Jamaica, Queens, New York.[1] The store, King Kullen, following King Kong, operated under the slogan(口号) "Pile(堆积) it high. Sell it low." When Cullen died in 1941, there were seventeen stores in operation(运行).

Existing(现有的) grocery chains(连锁) like Kroger and Safeway at first resisted Cullen's idea, but eventually were forced to build their own supermarkets as the North American economy sank further into the Great Depression(大萧条) and consumers became price-sensitive(价格敏感) to a degree never seen before. Kroger took the idea one step farther and pioneered the first supermarket surrounded(围绕着) on all four sides by a parking lot(tin(停车场).