WHY THE SUPERMARKETS ARE BOOMING

Last year the U.S. food trade, our No. 1 retail business, grossed 44 bilion dollars--six billion more than the auto industry.  More than half of these billions tinkled through the cash registers of America's 20,000 giant self-service food palaces, the supermarkets.

In addition to taking in 59.7 cents of each food dollar, supermarkets last year rang up two billion dollars for non-food items ranging from porch furniture to power mowers.  Some supers have featured mink stoles, airplanes, Italian motor scooters; a Texas market sold securities; a giant Food Farm on Staten Island devotes a 10,000-square-foot section to women's clothing.