To be fed up of high shelves in supermarkets?

Haha, this is me, I get my 5 year old to get the stuff from the low shelves. I am 5.9.

Is not so much the high shelves on their own that I find a problem, is when what I want is right at the back of a high shelf. Turns me into a swearing loon as I scale the heights of the dry goods section with my crampons.

I'm 5 ft 8" so this is not a problem for me but goods on shelves that are the height of my ankles are hard to see and find.

I'm 5 3 and in all honesty I rarely have to ask someone to get me something. What I find worse is if I want something on the lowest shelves. I have a bad hip and it can be really hard trying to get down there to see if they've got what I want!

I'm 5'9 I'm the person that gets asked, or just offers to get stuff down for people

I'm 5ft 8 and code check. Have to grovel on the floor for the bottom shelves and use a stool for top shelves.

Recently had extra produce delivered and management put in an extra shelf which is even too high with me on a stool and decided to put loose tomatoes on the top shelf. When majority of customers who buy a couple of loose tomatoes are elderly and in the main, short. I changed the cases round. First time that new store manager didn't have a go at me.

I’m not sure who is tall enough to reach everything in supermarkets. I’m 5 11” and every week I have to clamber up the fridge shelving to get a big pot of the full fat, Greek style yoghurt in Aldi. I can reach most things though

I'm 5 foot and half an inch. I hate high shelves and I look around for a taller person and go and ask them to reach me down the item I want. No one has ever refused to help me yet.

Sorry, I'm just chuckling my tiny mum in Sainsbury's many years ago... She wanted an iceberg lettuce, she was getting an iceberg lettuce...
Stood on the bottom of the display, reached up, pulled down 2 shelves of about 50 iceberg lettuce. Popped one on her trolley and walked off

Brilliant 😂

Sure, I'm not saying "complaining" as in "whining/being unreasonable." I can totally get that this is frustrating. But presumably the shelves are higher for a reason. Possibly, labour shortages are resulting in supermarkets wanting shelves to be higher in order to accommodate greater volumes of stuff so that it needs to be restocked less frequently. If that is the case, it might be necessary to pay higher prices to fund higher wages and reduce labour shortages.

Five foot and half an inch (but TBH I think I’m starting to shrink now) - hate this carry-on too. Every time, every store, it’s either ask for help or stand on bottom shelf. I’m always expecting to be ticked off for climbing up. Local Tesco, Morrisons and Aldi all have the high freezer cabinets set back over the wide chest high open ones - far too much of a high stretch over to get products.

However, worst of all are the sports clothes shops JD etc. Absolutely no chance of checking sizes or prices as three rails high. 😡

Shouldn’t leave them lying around with no signs saying so then!

Not so amusing when it is causing you physical pain. I work in other peoples homes, so kitchen cupboards, etc are often not organised in a way that makes it easy for me to reach stuff. At home I have light or rarely used things like snacks, storage boxes and medicines on high shelves, usually in baskets so I can reach them down in one go then find what I need. I also keep steps of various heights in the kitchen. Over the past couple of years I have had a lot of pain in my right shoulder and the back of my ankles triggered mainly by over-stretching to reach things. The pain quickly disappears if I am on annual leave for a few days.

Maybe we could take one of those grabber things people use to pick up rubbish. Obviously you wouldn't want to use it for something breakable, but might work for packets etc.

On the plus side. It did stop me from getting the chocolate ice creams I definitely didn't need, when they were on the top shelf of the freezer and pushed right to the back in Aldi. Although I did stand and debate for a while whether or not I should A climb onto the side of the freezer or B try and find something to reach it with and knock it down. In the end I decided my arse and thighs would thank me later by not buying them full stop.

Tradeoffs, innit.

The choices are:

Have higher shelves (short people complain)

Have less choice of stock (everyone complains)

Expand the size of supermarkets (nobody wants to build anything)

Have supermarkets that go up on more than one floor to create more floor space, with an escalator (we have a lot of multi-floor supermarkets in Tokyo, dunno how popular this would be in the UK)

4ft11 here too. I particularly hate that so many shops put the smallest shoes sizes highest. Shops should have at least 1 step stool per aisle so you can reach high stuff down if they insist on using such high shelves and not moving stock forward regularly. Never a member of staff around to ask either. If it is a light item I am pretty good at climbing &/or hooking it down, but a bit risky with things that are heavy or breakable.

My dream is clothes shops offering free alterations on site. Buy stuff in one shop, have it properly shortened (not just hems taken up) while you browse in others, pick it up before you go home.

What I find amusing is there are several short staff at my local Aldi and I’ve heard them complaining about stacking shelves. Recently the short ones tend to be on the tills while the tall ones (mainly men) who use to be on the till are refilling shelves.

OMG I’ve been meaning to write this post. Since Aldi “improved” it’s shelving it’s driven me mad! Not only can I not reach things but it’s so cramped and always a crowd around the doors trying to get at things. Having the doors opening out is a total nightmare.

I am curious as to what you think the solution should be.

Supermarkets place the most desirable (and expensive) items at eye level.

Supermarkets are not engaging in some form of heightism with how they lay the shelves out.

Ask people. I’m nearly 6ft and have people ask me all the time. I just get what they want.