When Kim Kash, member and secretary of the board of directors of the Greenbelt Co-op Supermarket, reached out to ask if I’d be willing to write a story about the new self-checkout lanes at the Co-op, I originally said no.
“Holy Cauliflower [which, incidentally, you can buy at the Co-op]?! Self-checkout lanes?!” I said. “I’m not the person you want for this job.”
I am not a fan of self-checkouts. For one thing, I think they take people’s jobs away and I was brought up to be staunchly pro-labor.
However, Kash reassured me no jobs would be reduced at the Co-op with these new lanes and so I agreed to do the story, if for no other reason than to see if Pete Seeger, banjo in hand, would re-incarnate in order to call me “a dirty scab” the moment I approached the self-checkout lane. Just so you know, Pete was a no show.
The cash registers in the Co-op were so old as to be literally falling apart, Kash said. The board spent two or three months deciding whether or not to add self-checkout when purchasing new registers, with some directors feeling those lanes were the antithesis of the Co-op. Ultimately, they decided to add them, realizing that while many shoppers favor staffed registers, there are those for whom self-checkout is preferable.
On Saturday, Daniel Hamlin and I met with Kash and Co-op General Manager Dan Gillotte to learn more about the changes to the Co-op. Previously, the Co-op had six staffed registers in the front of the store, although both Kash and Gillotte noted that normally only two or three registers were open at any given time. Gillotte discussed the Co-op’s long-term staffing shortages, saying, “if I could have six people running registers every day, I would do that.” With the urgent need to replace the old, failing registers, Gillotte and the board assessed options as well as consumer preference and felt there was both a demand and a readiness for self-checkout.
Gillotte and Kash stressed that staffed registers would remain open, no one would be forced to use self-checkout and the self-checkout will not lead to a reduction in staff. But those lanes do provide more options for shoppers. There are a number of reasons people prefer self-checkout, Gillotte explained, from social anxiety, to wanting a faster checkout experience, to being very comfortable with digital technology. Consumer desires are shifting, he noted, and consumers are used to self-checkout options at other local grocery stores, including Giant, Safeway and Target. “Greenbelt Co-op is committed to meeting the expectations of shoppers who have been coming here for the last 30 or 40 years as well as new customers we would like to stay with the Co-op for the next 30 or 40,” Gillotte said.
Following the upgrade, Co-op has three new staffed registers and three self-checkout lanes, keeping the total number of registers the same. Self-checkout provides more opportunity to serve customers with the available staff, Gillotte said, adding “ultimately, this is intended – and I think people will experience this – as a service upgrade. The friendliness is still here.”
One of the moves has been to create a more open, “more welcoming and more comfy” space at the Co-op entry.
While the self-checkout lanes were not officially open yet on the day when we were there, Gillotte opened one for us and we have this to report on the experience:
The self-checkout lane wants the phone number that is associated with your membership rather than the membership number. If this news causes your blood to run cold because you can’t remember the phone number you used to open your membership, don’t panic. The self-checkout attendant will happily update your membership information to your current, remembered phone number.
Although the lanes were not officially open and two rolling chip racks were in place indicating the lanes were closed, three different people came up and asked if they could use the self-checkout. Given the brief time we were there, anecdotal evidence suggests there are a number of shoppers who will opt for self-checkout if they have the choice.
Pay attention to what you scan. If you hesitate, the laser reader might scan the item twice. But with an attendant there to help with the three lanes, any issues will be quickly handled.
The self-checkout lanes do not take cash! Head to a staffed register for your cash purchases. Self-checkout doesn’t give the option for cash back at the end of your purchase so head to the staffed register if this is part of your errand.
Whichever checkout option you choose, the friendly helpfulness of the Co-op staff will still be there.
