What happened to the so-called British Invasion? You know the one where Tesco’s Fresh & Easy small-format food stores were going to sweep across America and turn this country’s food retailing industry on its head. The end of October will see the one-year anniversary of Fresh & Easy’s first store opening in Hemet, California. Since that time, Tesco has opened approximately 50 more stores in California, Arizona and Nevada. The results, by just about any industry accounting or reporting, have been less than stellar.

There is obviously little question that food retail is in the midst of dramatic transformation. Center store is disappearing before our eyes – not to mention stalwart retailers such as Albertsons, Winn Dixie and A&P. And while Wal-Mart’s effects can be felt throughout the industry, they too, are not immune to significant challenges as they seek to meet ever sophisticated needs of American consumers.

The grocery store was dying. To be sure, its heart—the much vaunted center store—had been deprived of “oxygen” (new, exciting quality brands and products) for far too long. Did the grocery store know it was dying? No. The death warrant had not been officially signed. The undertaker had not been summoned. All the vital signs suggested death was imminent and yet, the dear old thing precariously clung to life.

Retailers have a picture in their minds of troubled consumers desperately in need of their help. Consumers, on the other hand, have a different perception of this relationship. They are not waiting for retailers to come to their aid and do not look to retailers for answers to their everyday problems. The disconnect between the two members of this relationship is not uncommon, and like any relationship it isn’t something a big dose of communication and a little understanding can’t fix.

Perhaps things aren’t always as the media would like us to believe. The number of trips to the traditional grocery store may be on the decline, but that doesn’t mean that in this recessionary environment consumers are dramatically changing their shopping habits. Consumers are in fact continuing their complicated grocery shopping regimens — shopping a wide array of stores on a routine basis that include supercenters, warehouse stores, grocery stores, regional deep-discounters, farmer’s markets, community supported agriculture and specialty food shops.

Maybe it’s the heightened emphasis on all things trend worthy. Then again, maybe it’s all the talk about the economic recession and how consumers are changing their shopping and eating behaviors. Or, it could just be that mainstream grocery retailers are struggling to maintain “relevancy” with a constantly changing, ever-evolving consumer. What does all this mean for food shopping in the future?