1. A self-service grocery store where customers select their own items from shelves and pay at a checkout counter.
Usage: dated; chiefly historical

Examples

• The groceteria was a revolutionary concept in the 1920s, allowing shoppers to pick their own products.
• Unlike traditional markets where clerks fetched items, the groceteria let customers browse freely.
• My grandmother remembered when the local groceteria first opened in her neighborhood.
• The rise of the groceteria changed how Americans shopped for food.
• Early groceterias were smaller than modern supermarkets but larger than typical corner stores.