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I would point out that in addition to space for loading and restocking, the American grocery store has been trending larger to offer a wider variety of products. The economies of scale allow stocking two dozen types of cheese and a dozen different varieties of apples in a way that a corner store (which I've visited when travelling) just can't match.
Although I'm rather skeptical of the 15 minute number because despite living in a suburban (in-city) area of single-family homes, there are two major grocery stores within a hair over that that I'd never consider walking to because it'd be impractical to carry a family load of groceries that far. There is a corner store a few hundred yards away that I rarely visit because their selection is pretty small. It's too long of a walk to be a great idea, and I wouldn't trust a bike to not get stolen in a 20 minute visit (or carry an extra 50 pounds), so I drive.
Although I will vouch that the grocery stores tend to be near larger homeless encampments: I suspect it's partly space like you mention, also that food is readily accessible, and also that major grocery stores tend to be on major street corners for easy access. The supply of shopping carts is probably at least a bit attractive too, but I don't have a sense of the scale of that particular problem.
Is crime really so bad where you live that you're seriously worried about someone cutting your bike's U-lock in an area with heavy foot traffic (the entrance to a grocery store) in the time it takes you to do your shopping?
I used to regularly do my grocery shopping by bike back when I didn't live walking distance from a grocery store, so I understand that having to worry about whether the groceries will fit in the bike bags can be a pain and that's a good enough reason to use a car instead, anyway.
I’m confident that I live in the 95th percentile of American ‘bad neighborhoods’ by motteizan standards and I absolutely would not worry about someone cutting a bike lock while I was shopping, if I used a bike. My neighbors seem to make the same calculation based on the number of bikes I see chained outside my local grocery store when I go.
Now leaving a bike outside and completely unattended I understand worrying about, but it seems like anyone who actually uses a bike to get around owns a bike lock.
Perhaps I've personally over-estimated the risk, but the small empty bike rack outside the store next to the store a hundred yards from the local homeless encampment that seems full of likely-stolen bicycles is not confidence inducing. You may have convinced me to try it some time: I do bike to work (which has safe bike storage) sometimes.
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