[notahappycamper]

That is where the loading bays are, so they keep the fridges nearby so cold items have less chance to heat up. Plus milk is often stocked from behind, which can only be done where they have the extra space at the back of the store.

[nostrademons]

I could buy this on smaller or older grocery stores, but the Safeways near me have 2 full aisles of frozen goods (and one additional one of refrigerated goods). These aisles extend all the way from the back to the front of the store, and are located in the center of the floor plan.

The milk is still in the back, along with perishable juices. The difference between them and the aisles is that processed foods (frozen dinners, vegetables, snacks, brand name yogurt & cheese, ice cream, breakfasts) are all located near the front of the store, while fresh ones (milk, meat, fish) are located at the back, and perishable-but-non-refrigerated goods (fresh fruits & vegetables) are off to the back & side. So it really seems like a deliberate attempt to put the items you would buy frequently as far away from the door as possible, and make you walk through the goods that you might stock up on on impulse.

[fipple]

Frozen food doesn’t need to be stocked from the back because they don’t need to make sure the stock turns over very quickly.

[nostrademons]

Still doesn't explain why the cheese/yogurt/eggs aisle is stocked from the front, why the fresh produce displays are stocked from the top, or why cashew/soy/almond milk (which doesn't need to be refrigerated at all, and is in fact stored unrefrigerated in another part of the store if you buy smaller containers) is in with the milk case.

I would bet on consumer psychology over logistics here.

[eropple]

> why the cheese/yogurt/eggs aisle is stocked from the front

Logistics: because then you don't need rear access to the cooler shelves. That's square footage that you can better use in other ways. (In school I worked in a supermarket that put dairy in the beer/soda cooler, and we stocked it from the back.)

[eitally]

Some groceries -- every Whole Foods I've ever shopped at, for example -- have the eggs & dairy at the back with the milk, and stock those shelves from the back, too. Non-dairy "milks" only don't require refrigeration if they're ultra-pasteurized tetrapaks, which (in my experience) are only in 1Lt/Qt containers.

Milk is heavy. It's stocked onto shelves slightly angled forward so the remaining stock slides to the front for ease of reach. This need isn't generally applicable, or desireable, for other refrigerated/frozen foods.

[fipple]

None of that stuff moves as much raw volume of product as milk.

[srtjstjsj]

Most people, given the choice, consume more than only milk.

[dwighttk]

Eh. Most grocery stores I’ve been to have a small milk fridge at the front near self checkout for convenience.

[dvlsg]

Not to mention you probably want to pick it up last, so it stays colder longer. This way you don't have to carry milk around the store while you look for all the other items you need.

Although, maybe that's an argument for putting it by the checkout lines instead, which I suppose are by the entrance. Hm.

[spunker540]

I'm not sure that's a compelling reason. Why aren't frozen goods at the back of the store then?

And are you sure milk needs to be stocked from behind? Is it at the back of the store because it needs to be stocked from behind - or is it stocked from behind simply because its at the back of the store?

[derekp7]

If you stock it from the front, then there could be a couple gallons in the back that never get bought. Unless they let the stock run out completely before restocking.

Plus with thing like milk, it is a real pain to push several gallons uphill to put something else in front (ever try to put a milk container back on the sloped shelf? Takes a couple hands and some fidgeting to do it).

[desas]

In the UK I've never seen a rear loaded fridge, you always stock from the front.

[spunker540]

that's a good point about the keeping older milk up front!

[srtjstjsj]

Frozen food has a freezer-life of months. That's what freezing is for. Fridge food has a fridge-live of days.

[i_made_a_booboo]

Plus it's heavy as hell so having to move it far is big driver of this too.

[kurtisc]

>That is where the loading bays are, so they keep the fridges nearby so cold items have less chance to heat up.

The distance from bay to fridge plus fridge to the exit is the same wherever it goes.

[srtjstjsj]

Heating up on the way home is the customer's problem, not the store's problem.

[lukejduncan]

source: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2016/09/21/494927147/epis...

[megy]

Except this is not true at all, and we have somehow managed to have the milk out for 30 minutes at a time without going off. Watch when they refill.