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A greengrocer (Commonwealth English), fruit and vegetable store (U.S.) is a store selling primarily fruit and vegetables. Greengrocer is primarily a British and Australian term, and greengrocers' shops were once common in cities, towns and villages.
The concept is not common in the United States, as already in the 1940s, most fruit and vegetable sales in stores were at grocery stores, in addition to sales off pushcarts or other itinerant vendors, and at produce stands and farmers markets.[1]
In the U.K. and Australia, they have been affected by the dominant rise of supermarkets, but many can be found managing small shops or stores in towns and cities and in some villages. Greengrocers can also be found in street markets and malls, or managing produce departments at supermarkets. Such traders typically handle the entire business of buying, selling, and book-keeping themselves.
Greengrocers' apostrophe
Because of its misuse on greengrocers' signs, an apostrophe used incorrectly to form a plural — such as apple's, orange's or banana's — is known as a greengrocers' apostrophe.[2]
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