Mr. Carlson, the son of a Swedish immigrant who became a neighborhood grocer, had a childhood worthy of a Norman Rockwell painting with highlights by John D. Rockefeller.

Not only can they be found at most every neighborhood grocer, but even giants like Wal-Mart are getting into the act.

But he, like most people in the industry, from neighborhood green grocers to supermarket chains, said losses were difficult to gauge because of the variations in pricing.

Wal-Mart did not change the names of the stores, which range from neighborhood grocers to large American-style hypermarkets.

Mr. Rodriguez, a recent Nicaraguan immigrant, was driving home from a neighborhood grocer with Veronica, his 3-year-old daughter, sitting on her mother's lap.

The telephone sped up the process - the shopper could call in the order to the neighborhood grocer.

Cupcakes, Godfather's Pizza and Juice Stop have opened, as well as a bank, a neighborhood grocer called Wohlner's, a hair salon, and multiple bars and lounges.

The risks have not stopped companies from rapidly expanding in hopes of persuading shoppers to defect from the neighborhood grocer.

Last week I called on a neighborhood grocer and saw that the cash registers he was using at his checkout counters were very old-fashioned.

At the same time, the code satisfied the greengrocers because it stopped the ugly feud with their workers and reassured consumers that their neighborhood grocers were complying with the law.