In message , Roland Perry
writes

In message , at 16:16:41 on Mon, 24 Mar 2008,
Lew 1 remarked:

Am I right in thinking that the St Albans Tesco was their first self-service
store?

In 1947 it is claimed. But as their first self-service supermarket was
apparently in Maldon in 1956 I'm struggling to understand what
separates a shop from a supermarket

At the risk of wandering even further OT, I think that the earliest
self-service stores were limited to pre-packaged dry goods - tins and
packets. The term supermarket was coined when a wider range of products
appeared (pre-packaged dairy products such as butter, milk and cheese,
pre-packaged bread and cakes, and a little frozen foods).

(given that in the 60's many so-called supermarkets were very small
with maybe only two tills, like a modern convenience store).

Most were certainly small by modern standards, but I can recall many
that were about the size of a modern "Tesco metro" - perhaps 4 or 5
tills (with the inevitable "Green Stamps" dispenser). Many were formed
by knocking together two or three adjacent shops.
--
Paul Terry