Unmanned supermarkets to the rescue in Sweden’s rural areas

Gerlach enters the Lifvs unmanned supermarket store in Veckholm, a village of a few hundred people, about 80 kilometres from Stockholm, near the city of Enkoping. One after another, grocery stores are shutting down in rural Sweden, leaving villagers to log miles to buy food. But a new type of shop has sprung up in their wake: unmanned supermarkets in mobile containers. — AFP

Enköping, SWEDEN: One after another, grocery stores are shutting down in rural Sweden, leaving villagers to travel miles to buy food. But a new type of shop has sprung up in their wake: unmanned supermarkets in mobile containers.

In Veckholm, a village of a few hundred people 80 kilometres (50 miles) from Stockholm, the last grocery store closed more than a decade ago. Then, a year-and-a-half ago, even the little convenience store at the only petrol station locked its doors.