Half a dozen people hover by the entrance, waiting for the doors to open at 9am. As the minutes inch closer to the top of the hour, dozens of people descend from their cars to file a single line. By the time opening is one minute away, a hundred shoppers stretch down the sidewalk.
These people aren’t here for the latest high-tech gadget or must-see concert ticket. Nope. It’s a typical Saturday morning at my local grocery store, Your Dekalb Farmers Market near Atlanta, Georgia. This opening hour queue has become a regular weekend occurrence. Mostly thanks to TikTok like this one. “This is the craziest spices and seasonings assortment I’ve ever seen in my life,” another TikToker exclaims. I recognized the six-foot-tall shelving holding thousands of small plastic containers filled with turmeric, onion salt, and numerous other spices as the display at my local market.
According to Expedia’s latest travel trends report, 39 percent of travelers visit supermarkets or grocery stores when away from home. I feel that trend every time I step into my local market. Initially, I was excited to see it recognized as a hub for global ingredients.
Then I realized word of mouth and viral social media videos about its international wares—from Anna’s Swedish ginger thins (cookies) and tangy eggplant dip Baba Ghanoush to spiced North African merguez lamb sausage– had catapulted the store into a visitor attraction, resulting in larger crowds, lines, and a fuller parking lot. The thing is, I too enjoy visiting grocery stores when I travel, but now that I see how crowds impact my local store, I feel my touristic grazing is at best, a nuisance, and at worst, a disruption to another’s routine errands.