Four Vons locations in Long Beach have closed their self-checkout lanes after the city passed a new law aimed at curbing theft at local grocery and drug stores.
Under the “Safe Stores are Staffed Stores” ordinance, stores must have one employee for every three self-checkout lanes. Additionally, customers can only pay for up to 15 items, and items that require ID verification or removal of theft-prevention measures cannot be processed through the self-serve stations.
Long Beach Councilwoman Tunua Thrash-Ntuk said leaders aimed to provide a work environment where employees feel like they have “the ability to protect themselves,” especially against people “looking to steal” or attempting to harass an employee.
With workers supervising fewer machines, the union that represents grocery store workers said they can better help customers who struggle with self-checkout and more effectively deter theft by keeping a closer watch.
“It’s no secret that the grocery industry broadened self-checkout to trim staff, to try to make fewer workers do more,” said Derek Smith, spokesperson for UFCW 324.
Stores have implemented the policy in different ways. A spokesperson for Vons said they opted to close the self-checkout lanes because “the ordinance requires that locked or secured items cannot be purchased through self-checkout.”
USC business professor Florenta Teodoridis said automated machines, such as self-checkout lanes, are a work in progress.
“The beauty of technology is to complement human tasks,” Teodoridis said. “How can we have, in this particular case, automation and the workers in the store work as complements and provide, in the long run, more value to consumers?”