Capacious coolers.

• Position: What's New? - Brief Article

One of the interesting' phenomenons of recent years has been the advent of so-called "wholesale" supermarkets as a way of grocery shopping. These immense warehouse-like structures--such as Sam's Club, Costco, and a host of regional chains--specialize in selling in bulk to bargain-hunting consumers, either through multipacks (i.e., 24 rolls of toilet tissue) or king-size packaging (36 ounces of dry cereal). With the exception of ultralarge families who can churn through boxes of 120 disposable diapers in no time at all, this enthusiastic stockpiling ultimately leads to the stunning realization upon arriving home that there's insufficient room to store all of this bounty, or that you'll likely become sick of the idea of eating macadamia nuts well before you get to the bottom of the 10-pound jar.

Prior to that epiphany, though, there is another shock to the shopping system: How am I ever going to get all of this home? One of the insidious methods of these cost-cutting operations is their deliberate failure to provide bags--no query of "paper or plastic?" is heard here--leaving consumers to scramble for empty cartons to pack the huge items in as they come tumbling off the conveyor belt after flashing past the scanner. Compounding the problem is the dilemma of how to get all of that meat, dairy, fish, ice cream, frozen food, and other perishables home before they defrost, melt, or just start to turn. After much trial and error, mostly entailing desperately trying to stuff dripping packages into the refrigerator and/or freezer, we finally came up with a solution. If you're going to load up on oversized packaging, load it into oversized coolers.

Rubbermaid Home Products, Wooster, Ohio, has a pair that can offer comfort to even the most-exuberant shopper. Its 4-Wheel Ice Chest ($49.99) has a 60-quart capacity; is insulated; comes with a quartet of all-terrain, oversized plastic wheels, the front ones rotating a full 360[degrees] for maneurability; and is designed in a patriotic red-white-and-blue motif, with a long red towing handle, white lid, and sturdy blue body, Besides keeping everything at the proper temperature during transport, it can be rolled right into the house or garage for easy unloading. Even more impressive is the 102-quart Marine Ice Chest ($69.99), a rugged white brute with an internal tray for small items so they don't get buried under five-gallon tubs of ice cream, entire tenderloin filets of beef, and 10-pound bags...