DR Jennifer - I remember "fix it youself salad bars" popping up in Safeway stores when I was about ten years old. -Wow! That's thirty years ago?!?! It certainly was quite the novelty when they started appearing in supermarkets, and was usually a cause for some expressions of disbelief once we got to the register since they were priced by the pound. -"You bought how much salad?!?!?!". -And then when the hot food bars started popping up...
Here in NYC, salad and hot food bars in stores are more the norm than the exception. It just depends on the size of the store. The Whole Foods/Fresh Fields/Wild Oats stores usually have multiple bars: basic salad fixings, premade salads, international selections (Indian, Asian, etc.), desserts. And those are alongside the sushi, grilled items, pizza and home-cooked stations. Some stores even have a Pommes Frites bar, a cooked to order Seafood counter, and an in-store smoker for BBQ'd selections. In other words: Yes, we have salad bars.