21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: As traditional community hangouts shrink, supermarkets are becoming the place where people meet to socialize—and even fall in love.

When Bob Schneider goes out on a Friday night, he no longer heads to the local singles bar. Instead, he goes to the grocery store.

“I once dated a woman from the potato section at Mariano’s,” says Mr. Schneider, a 67-year-old semiretired, twice-divorced lobbyist in Oak Brook, Ill. “The next thing you know we’re at the wine bar and then we’re dating.”

Supermarkets—those havens of the not-so-scintillating chore of scouring numbered aisles, pushing carts and perusing produce—are finding a new identity as a social hub in communities. Parents now bring their children here to play, retirees gather for Bingo, and singles find romance.

Grocery stores are fulfilling the new role as traditional gathering spots, from shopping malls to social clubs like Lions Clubs and Rotary International, continue to shrink from decades-earlier peaks. Malls, in particular, are in danger of extinction. Credit Suisse has projected that up to 25% of malls will close over the next five years, as the internet continues to reshape the way Americans shop.

As more shoppers consider alternatives including online shopping apps and meal kits, grocers are finding ways to avoid a similar fate. Many are reinventing themselves as destination spots.

“Getting people into the store is the number one objective,” says Laurie Rains, Nielsen’s group vice president of retail strategy. Retailers are also drawn to the higher margins that in-house prepared foods, coffee and cocktails can offer.

By offering space for people to hang out and play, grocery stores are making a calculation that customers will stay, shop longer and come back more often.

It’s grocery stores’ version of the comfy-chair revolution, though that didn’t save Borders.