To be fed up of high shelves in supermarkets?

[PoliteCritic]

I am 5ft 3, so not tiny, but I am increasingly unable to reach lots of things at the supermarket, even in the fresh fruit and veg section. People always say just to ask someone, but I literally have to ask about 5 or 6 people in a normal supermarket shop.
I normally shop at ALDI and M and S, are there any supermarkets that do not stack food so high? I am really so fed up of it.

I can never reach the bread I like in my local Tesco Metro (5'2" here). Helpfully the cards and wrapping paper are nearby so I borrow a roll of wrapping paper and knock the bread off the shelf! Had a few strange looks but don't care!

I send my dc up like monkeys in the zoo

I'm 5ft and a wheelchair user 😁 I don't shop alone any more. My 6ft 3 husband is useful.

i get your frustration but turn this around
i find it difficult to get to bottom shelves
genuine response im not taking the piss

im 6ft with 36 inch legs and N cup boobs
if i bend over far enough i topple (im not obese just massive boobs)
some household chores are hard work for me

i got to 6ft by age 11 and was 27 inches born so ive never been short

im not getting on my knees to get to a shelf so my mother and i go shopping together as shes 4 ft 10 and help each other

ive 6f1(19) and 6ft 2(13) sons as well so they are no help
99.9% i get my shopping delivered though

my ex was 5ft 6 and small build so we used to counteract each other

trolleys are difficult as well as im too tall to stand normal

I climb up the fridges in Aldi every week. Don't care what anyone says, I want my yoghurt and smoked mackerel fillets (not together, one's breakfast the other dinner).

Fortunately they put the cheap wine low down 😂

I am 5.3” and had this exact problem tonight in Morrisons. If I’m not with my tall friend or my 6ft tall Son then I have to ask. People are normally very happy to help. In fact a lady tonight offered to help me because she could see I was floundering!

I'm 5'8.5" and never had a problem.

Climbing in shelves sounds dangerous. They're not designed to take the weight of a
Person. They're often held up with brackets.

The plastic see thru shelf edge is good for knocking stuff down, Stools seem non existent currently but some of the stacking trolleys, the ones with a flat top have a flip down step you can pinch, put it back where you found it though as the staff might get confused 😂.
If it's in the freezer push up from the shelf below.
My local Sainsbury's isn't too bad for high stuff however a few of them are 4ft deep, no hope of getting the last of the stock back there!

I totally understand your frustration.
But I’m similar to @ALPHAFEMALESINCEBIRTH
Quite tall with a bad back - lower shelves are a pain for me.

I’m more than happy to help people reaching higher shelf items, but if I ask (usually in return) for someone to pick something up for me on the bottom shelf I get strange responses.

Id love to see some kind of Yo-Sushi/Generation game thing where you just park up and things just come around on a conveyer belt.

@dizzydizzydizzy Sainsbury's are particularly bad at it, I like the cherry and blackberry fizzy water which is on the top shelf and never at the front so even on tiptoes I can't reach it. Sometimes there's something nearby that I can use to hook or nudge a bottle to the front but often not.

@LeggyLinda maybe people do not know why you can't do it yourself and think you are being sarcastic? Just say you have a bad back.
I would not mind so much if it had always been like this, but it is only fairly recently this has been an issue. Supermarkets and shops have in the last few years decided tp stack everything much higher than before.

Yep I'm 5'4 so just about average UK woman and still can't reach a lot of supermarket shelves, so annoying!

It’s shite isn’t it. I’m 5ft 7 and I often have to
climb shelves. I might get one of those long shoe horns IKEA sell and start taking that shopping.

I'm 5'6" and have this problem too, especially when something is low in stock and right at the back. I'm happy to ask for help but often there's no one to ask and often top shelves are too high for almost everyone. I find bottom shelves tough too, again especially when they're nearly empty, but at least I can physically get down on my hands and knees, whereas I can't levitate. Keeping stock levels good would really help on both counts though.

My late mother, who was 5'1" and whose disinhibitedness has been celebrated before on MN, used to use her walking stick to just hook things down. If they came within reach, that was ideal; if they went flying, she'd just leave them where they fell (she couldn't bend much either). If challenged she'd just shrug and say it was someone's job to pick fallen things up and she was keeping them in work. It was mightily embarrassing to go shopping (and indeed much else) with her, but the older I get the more sympathy I feel for her behaviour.

I love the pp's idea of a Yo Sushi style supermarket! It would take ages though so you'd need tea and cake while you did your weekly shop!

“Or use another product to knock the thing off the shelf that I want”

This is my go-to method. Going in M&S, hooking boxes of stuff down using a tube of paper cups and watching the members of staff come running is my favourite Friday afternoon activity.

They do the same thing with shoes - small sizes up on the high shelf and my size 8s on the bottom shelf. Surely the other way round makes more sense?

I’m 4ft 11” and a wheelchair user. I have to ask someone for the majority of what I buy, but it’s wearing. I often come out of the shop without half of what I wanted because I just couldn’t muster the energy to chase the other customers around asking them to get everything.
M&S’s freezers are completely impossible to get anything out of from a wheelchair. It’s frustrating.

Those chest freezers do tend to be strong enough to climb on though.

And if they’re not, then it’s the supermarket’s fault for making products difficult to reach.

You are probably younger than me. I'd rather vote with my feet and find another supermarket than go climbing up freezers!

I’m 50, & do regular yoga which helps with the freezer climbing!

I am 5.1. Yes it’s a pain the ass all the things up high. I have mastered the wine aisle in Tesco though. If you lift a bit of the shelf at the front you can slide bottles at the back of the shelf to the front. As long as I get the wine it’s all good 🤣

I'm 5 2 and usually climb on the bottom shelf, at 43 I'm used to being small now

4'11" here (🙄🤨) and yes - I agree! I always have to get someone to reach for top shelf bits, so frustrating.

Just ask someone 😁

Nice idea. If you can find any member of staff to help. They do have a remarkable habit of disappearing out of sight when you need something.