Beatdown on Aisle 5

The battle royale for the $12 trillion grocery market.

Clarence Saunders was out on a limb. After all, there'd never been a store like it.

In the early hours of that September morning in 1916, perhaps the former grocery clerk took one last look at his creation. It certainly didn't bear a resemblance to any of the general stores at which he'd worked, starting at the age of 14. Gone were the countertops separa…