Greengrocer

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.

For the Australian cicada of the same name, see Cyclochila australasiae.
In front of a greengrocer's shop in Gourock, Scotland
Greengrocer's shop in Buenos Aires.

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]

Interior of a greengrocer's shop in Stroud, Gloucestershire
gollark: It is not currently, strictly speaking, osmarks internet *radio™*.
gollark: I kind of want to attain two micro:bits, thingy them to my server and laptop via UART over USB, and transmit osmarks internet radio™ over their surprisingly capable wireless radios.
gollark: Unrelatedly, it turns out that the unused micro:bit on my desk still functions perfectly.
gollark: No, this is actually illegal; you *will* act as Microsoft preconfigures it to be.
gollark: I like how occasionally quirks of conversations make me seem prescient.

References
  1. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Fruit_Sales_in_Retail_Grocery_Stores_and/tKQ80rOZYtYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=fruit+vegetable+store+grocer&pg=PA9&printsec=frontcover
  2. Quinion, Michael. "Possessive Apostrophes: The greengrocer's speciality". Retrieved 10 October 2011.
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