As in the United States, supermarkets cater to their neighborhood. Supermarkets in an

 affluent portion of Mexico City might have caviar, French cheeses, fine imported wines, and

 similar goods. These supermarkets also have much larger refrigerated and frozen food selections

 than stores in less affluent areas. Supermarkets in poorer areas have fewer imported products,

 fewer branded products, and fewer products that require home refrigeration. Mexican

 supermarkets generally devote more floorspace to non-foods than is true in the U.S. Some sell

 a full range of non-food items, including appliances and hardware, similar to what would be

 found in a small department store in the U.S..

 The differences inside the stores from U.S. supermarkets are minor compared to

differences in warehousing and distribution. Compared to the United States, no central

warehousing exists. The typical warehouse is, in fact, a cross-dock distribution center, with

minimal storage functions. A truckload of a product, such as cereal, comes into the warehouse.

The driver is instructed to divide the load into the pick-up area for each store. This area is used

to accumulate a load for that store until a full load is amassed, at which time it is loaded onto

the truck and sent to the store. If a truck destined for a store is being loaded as a delivery is

occurring, the delivering driver might take the product directly to the outbound truck. Product

normally sits in the warehouse less than 24 hours. This approach shifts the burden of stock-outs

back to the supplier. Since the entire chain's inventory is on the floor of the stores or on the

trucks in transit, if a product is sold out, none will be available until the supplier can deliver

more. Since real interest rates approach 20%, holding inventories is especially unattractive, as

is owning excess warehouse space. However, this strategy is, no doubt, at the cost of higher

prices from the suppliers.