I should elaborate. The above jarred peppers are in the same section as jarred pickles and other jarred peppers next to spreads like ketchup, mayo and the like. Seems logical that Hatch peppers (which are also jarred) should be in the same area instead of the next aisle over. Perhaps it’s just a matter of space, because otherwise it’s illogical.
Apple butter is seasonal? I know it’s produced seasonally, but the point is that it keeps, like jelly. Is grape jelly seasonal?
Anyway, it’s a niche product and i would have expected to find it with the other oddball jellies and preserves. My supermarket puts those in the shelf that’s too high to see easily, not on the bottom. But that’s where I’d look.
I think that there are just some items that are a bit oddball, and/or one could make a logical case for them being shelved in several different areas. I often run into this: one store shelves an item in one section, but if I have to go to a different store, while they have that item, it’s in a completely different place.
Is there a section for Mediterranean foods? I’d expect to find the pepperoncini there. But if there isn’t, maybe they default back to generic condiments.
Something will be stocked on the bottom shelf. In my supermarket, it’s mostly stuff that people will buy anyway. Flour, sugar, the “family size” boxes of cereal, the large cans of tomatoes, large bags of pet food and kitty litter, the big sleeve of paper towels…
And they put the stuff that doesn’t sell often, like apple butter, up high where i might need to ask a taller shopper to reach it for me
Indeed. I remember seeing a cartoon in an industry magazine, years ago, that was labeled, “Ideal Grocery Store Shelving.” It showed a shopper in a grocery store aisle, where everything was shelved at eye level, but the shelf itself was several hundred yards long. 
But, that’s the gist of it. Store shelves have areas that are inconvenient for many shoppers: the top shelves can be difficult to reach for shorter people, while the bottom shelves can be difficult for people who have problems with bending down.
But something has to go there, and that’s why they tend to be where less-popular items, and/or larger items (for the bottom shelves in particular) tend to go.
Same with my mother. 3 batches a year, 2 were given as gifts, one for the family. One year she made it with cherry juice, it was a big hit. Unfortunately that was the last time she made it, she lost her second bout with cancer. I made some once, it wasn’t as good as Mom’s.
Maybe i should make some apple butter … I don’t love it, but my husband is a fan.
I have nothing useful to add. At first I thought that the word Schnucks in the OP was just a silly, generic, made-up. placeholder name for a grocery store chain. But then I looked it up and Schnucks is a for real regional grocery store chain,
Indeed. I’m familiar with them, from my days working in consumer products; they’re primarily in the St. Louis area. They were one of the two regional grocery chains that always led to chuckles due to their name; the other was what is now known as H-E-B (in Texas), which used to be referred to, at least among manufacturers, by their original name: H.E. Butt.
In all the big chain grocery stores, convenience stores, and even gas stations, just about every inch of shelf space is contracted and mapped out by a third party. The store itself has virtually no say. This is what my wife does for a living, and I had no idea how many different factors figure into the decisions.
It’s no surprise that a relatively low-selling product like apple butter is not placed more prominently.
You giggle at Schnucks but not at Piggly Wiggly?
Sort of a cross between jam and applesauce.
This is super interesting. I of course knew that there was some of this but no idea that it was so completely regulated.
I think I have always bought apple butter at a farm store. I don’t think I’ve ever bought it at a regular grocery store.
I have a bone to pick with Wikipedia though. Appelstroop is apple syrup, not apple butter. It is definitely not the same consistency.
Yeah, I think apple butter is just a slow-moving item so it gets relegated to a bottom shelf. I wouldn’t be surprised if the OP had to wipe dust off the top of the container.
I had an odyssey trying to find tahini to make hummus at my local grocery not so long ago. I looked everywhere I figured it was likely to be- areas with other nut or seed spreads, the ‘ethnic goods’ aisle, etc. etc. I asked a few employees who thought they had it but had no luck either. Finally an employee remembered where it was- in a clip-on rack on a door of a refrigerated goods section. Just a total random place for it.
OK, three chains. 
I’d heard the name “apple butter,” but didn’t know exactly what it was until this thread. If Wikipedia is accurate (and maybe it isn’t), it sounds like apple butter is, essentially, apple sauce that’s cooked for longer, until it caramelizes, and achieves a thicker, spreadable consistency. Is that accurate?
When I was a kid, my mother would buy apple butter every so often. I don’t remember it as a regular thing. Although I thought it okay, it wasn’t something I would be moved to ask for. So I’m familiar with it, but meh.
I used to work for Tom Thumb, and nobody could tell me where the hell that name came from.