You know, the thread in reddit is from "AskUK", right? We are not in UK, we are in Canada. We did not have large pickpocketing/shoplifting/beggars on the roads problem in the past. We were better in this respect than poor Europe. We had gates only in low-end grocery stores in bad neighborhood. Now they are everywhere.
So I gave you 3 examples. 2 of which you can get in your car and check out. The reddit photo is included because I've definitely been in stores with those gates. If memory serves, the last one was the food basics at Woodside Square circa 2005 (when I moved away from there).
If you don't have memories of turnstiles at grocery stores, you were either born in the 90's, and grew up after the rise of the superstore, (and never shopped anywhere else) or you are old enough to be senile.
As for "When did access control become a thing at grocery stores", well here's an article on the history of the grocery store:
A story of adaptability and resilience by Slate
www.slateam.com
That has pictures of the FIRST grocery store chain, Piggly Wiggly.
Look at those welcoming turnstiles and chain link fences.
And just to further trigger you snowflakes: Did you know nostalgia for a past that never existed is a cornerstone of fascism?
I’ll be blunt: nostalgia has played no small part in bringing us to our current moment. The desire to return to a mythic past is one of the hallmarks of fascism, and now that America has allowed an…
theharvestmaidsrevenge.com