All Nick's Discount Markets here accept Visa and MasterCard. Several Super Fresh supermarkets will charge your groceries to a credit card. Some 7-Eleven stores also take credit cards for food purchases.

"It's still on an experimental basis," said a Richmond area spokesman for Southland Corp., which operates 7-Elevens. "All of our stores that sell gas accept cards -- Visa, MasterCard, Citgo Plus and Discover -- and so we tried them in non-gasoline stores."

Nonetheless, apart from the cost, [Robert A. Wilcox] sees efficiencies in using credit cards, "taking the cash out of the environment." Lukhard's stores already accept credit cards for items such as deli trays and fruit baskets.