Shopping

When we go shopping, we can go either to a big department store or to the shop which specializes in some extra goods. For example, in the greengrocer´s we have wide selection of fruit and vegetables – ranging from products that can be grown in our climate to exotic tropical fruit. The fruit most frequently sold are apples, oranges, lemons, bananas and tangerines. We need vagetables as a daily part of our diet. Vegetables often used for cooking are potatoes, carrots, onion, garlic, cauliflower and cucumbers.
In baker´s we can choose from selection of sweet pastries – doughnuts, gingerbread, filled buns and so on. We can choose from fresh bread, crispy rolls, buns und baguettes, too. In dairy´s we buy milk, butter, yoghurts, cheese and other milk products.
At the drugstore we buy soap, shampoo, skin cream, toothbrush and toothpaste. For men there are shaving accessories and for women beauty aids.
The butcher specializes in meat, the fishmonger in fish, the florist in flowers, the newsagent in newspapers and magazines, the stationery sells paper products and office supplies and the delicatessen sells some exclusive and more expensive food.
The most common shop in Britain is the grocer´s. It sells food, such as tea, coffee, sugar, jam, biscuits, detergents and polish. Another common shop is the chemist´s. In America the chemist´s shop is called a drugstore and they sell many more things than the British chemist´s.
All possible goods can be sold in various types of shops: food products are usually bought in a self-service shop or a supermarket. The supermarket is bigger and we can buy also goods from the chemist´s and ironmonger here. A hypermarket is very large and sells all possible kinds of food and kitchen and house needs. Street markets sell various things at stalls in the streets and squares. A typical feature of modern big cities are big department stores which in London can be found near the West End. For example, Marks and Spencer, Selfridges, Harrods and so on. They are usually huge buildings equipped with speedy lifts and escalators, where we can buy almost everything from food to furniture. Big stores are usually operate on the „serve-yourself“ system – you go in, pick up a trolley, walk around the shop and choose what you want. At the exit there is a cash-desk or a cashier where you pay for all your goods together either cash or with your credit card.
An average Czech family goes shopping every day to a local shop for necessary food.

Once a week they usually do one bigger purchase for the weekend and from time to time they have to buy clothes, shoes and equipment. A real shopping rush happens before Christmas season when people try to buy nice Christmas presents.