Hey Wal-Mart, Check Yourself Out

There has been a disturbing trend developing in retail establishments over the past few years:  the self check out line.  These seemed to start out at places like Kroger and other grocery stores.  But not long thereafter, they showed up at Home Depot, Lowes and Wal-Mart.

I have to admit.  I am not a fan.  I say leave the checkout to the professionals, to those young folks (and not so young folks) who do it every day for a living.  It just takes a lot longer for an individual to check themselves out.  I realize that self-checkout probably saves the retail store some money because they don’t have to employ as many cashiers.  But until they start giving me a discount to check out my own merchandise, I will make sure a professional cashier takes care of my purchases.

And don’t even think about trying to do self checkout with fruits and vegetables.  Good grief!!  You either have to look up the magic code to punch in or select from a bunch of pictures.  By the time you do all that, you could be home eating your salad and fruit medley. 

The one thing that really baffles me about the self checkout option is when the lanes are NOT open.  There is a relatively new Wal-Mart on Howell Mill Road near my office that must have 50 checkout lanes.  They must have built this place expecting all of Atlanta to show up and purchase their electronics, clothes, shoes and groceries at one time.  Anyway, this particular Wal-Mart has about 10 or more self checkout lines.  And they NEVER seem to be open.  Admittedly, when I go to purchase a single item, I will often use the self checkout option.  And for my trips to this particular Wal-Mart, it is usually just that…I usually go to purchase one single item.   So it is very frustrating to see they have these self checkout lanes available but not open.  I just don’t get it.   And to add to the frustration, they usually only have 5 of the 50 cashier lanes open.  So there’s ALWAYS a line. 

Attention Wal-Mart on Howell Mill Road:  If you plan on offering self-checkout as an option for your customers, then make sure these lanes stay OPEN.