To be fed up of high shelves in supermarkets?

My sister once got upended into an open freezer by a rushing crowd of older ladies pursuing the yellow sticker man. I wasn't there to see it, but by god I wish I was. Luckily she saw the funny side. Apart from the fact they got to the yellow sticker stuff first.

I totally agree. I am 5ft 2 and this has been a problem for me for as long as I can remember. I usually have to ask for help several times on my way round the supermarket.

Increasingly, things on the very bottom shelves are also a problem because as I get older getting right down and then back up again isn't getting any easier either.

Sometimes on the receipt a product from a mixed case can say a/b/c - where a b and c are the different products in the mixed case. Or just says fruit squash which covers orange, summer fruits, apple and blackcurrant etc.

The worst offender for mixed cases are their Alpen Light bars. Loads of apple and sultana, some red berry ones and hardly any chocolate.

Also have no idea which flavours etc are most popular in terms of sales as all got the same barcode

I’m 5’6 so don’t have much trouble, it’s only if the stuff I want is at the back of the shelf, my husband is 6’2 and is always being asked to get stuff of the top shelf for people, I say i’m going to start renting him out.

Bottom shelves are my issue, I can get down there but my dodgy knees mean I have huge difficulty getting back up. Have been known to crawl across the aisle looking for somewhere to cling on to and drag myself up 🥴

Just a suggestion, when you arrive in the shop ask at the welcome desk/a staff member to escort you round and help you shop. My local Waitrose does this for people with disabilities

I think the reasoning there is that buying stuff for kids is more likely to be a need than a want, so they’re assuming parents will take the trouble to get upstairs & hoping they might pick stuff up for themselves on the way.

The chilled shelves in my local Lidl are very deep and if the milk is getting low it's hard to reach into the shelf and I'm 5' 7'' too. If there are 'suits' hanging around as often happens I make a point of asking them to help!

I detest the newest fad of putting everything, almost, behind glass doors meaning that if there's a ditherer or, worse still one who has to phone someone before making a simple purchase, they block the shelves whereas in th'olden days one could reach round them.

At 4'10 I really struggle...... now I get what I can and just order the rest online, I suffer huge anxiety so asking a stranger is a no can do for me

I've not noticed this in supermarkets so much although I probably will, now I've read this thread!

But I wanted to buy a box of Christmas cards last year and the boxes were on a high shelf that I couldn't reach so I just walked out again as there were no step stools.

And separate but related, why do shops with more than one floor have the kids' sections (clothes, books, toys) on a higher floor so you need to get the lift with a buggy? Wouldn't it make more sense to have the kids section on the ground floor? I guess you need to take small kids with you for adult products as well but it would seem sensible to put items for kids where they are easily accessible by kids and their parents.

What’s more dangerous than high shelves are mixed boards of soft drinks in Aldi. As they are mixed cases - all the orange squash is on the same side. Customers all pick the orange squash and boards go lopsided.

its only a matter of time before someone will get injured from these boards falling on them

I just ask someone. Never had anyone say no but I did have a man ask if I could get him something from the bottom shelf in exchange 🤣

In 4'8. I would like all the aisles to have footstools as I hate asking for help. I do climb but not all shelves are climbable especially if they put the clear plastic ridge in the way

I climb up the shelves. No one has said anything so far. If the shelves are strong enough to hold hundreds of toms of beans, they’re strong enough to take my weight.

One of my favourite things about my flat is that the bathroom cabinets reach down to the sink & have big mirrored doors.

I'm 5 7 and never needed any help to get something down??

where are you all shopping?

I'm 5ft 3 too and it annoys me, especially when heavy items or glass jars are on the top shelf.

I knocked over a couple of yoghurts in glass jars in Aldi trying to reach them, no shelf to stand on in the fridge section. No staff or other shoppers around, so I had to walk around to look for a staff member to report it before someone slipped. When I found someone he found the flavours I wanted and handed them to me. I wasted his time and the 2 staff members who had to clean up the broken glass and yoghurt.

In Tesco staff have to look for the stool to retrieve items for me. It can't be safe having staff members trying to balance on a stool while lifting things over their heads to put them there!

The world was set up to suit men's heights. There was a point in time when women would struggle with the height mirrors was at. I can remember getting mirrors put in my house and arguing with the DIY guy because he was telling me that they looked stupid. But that Is only because we are used to them being high. I asked him what was the point when I couldn't see in them. It's the same for public seating, rails on public transport etc.

If you want more legroom, pay for it.

I'm 5 ' 2" and manage just fine with supermarket shelves.

You can have lower shelves when we taller people are given more legroom in buses, planes etc.