I remember just last year when the new Kroger opened on
Garth Road and I was excited to see they had broken out of the Walmart paradigm
of having a less proportionate number of checkers than people trying to
check-out. Seriously, it wasn't that bad. Walmart is the world's worst store
for checking out due to the many closed counters. When you shop there, it is akin to going through a
cattle chute. I shouldn't even point this out today because it is so obvious to
everyone except the store manager.
No, the new Kroger had many open checking stands and a
bagger at each one. Now months later, they are facing stiff completion from the
new HEB store, so it would seem logical, that they would continue this great
level of service, right? Wrong. I stopped in to spend a hundred dollars the
other day and only one register with no bagger was available and the checker
picked up the phone and paged someone for a price check.
Hark, there was an associate at the far left end where you get
the pleasure of self-checkout who hailed me. "I can help someone down
here!" I had about 30 or so items, so rather than be third in line, I
rolled my buggy on down. She took over and methodically scanned each item and
stacked most of them above, rather than bag them and explained she liked to do
it that way, because she can then arrange them in the plastic bags more
efficiently. Meanwhile, an elderly
couple (they were my age) were having trouble finding the code on a piece of
fruit and over her shoulder, she was rattling off numbers for them to punch in
(this was unsuccessful) and she kept stopping my scan to help them in the self
check line.
I stood and watched this overly energetic lady work her
routine with all earnestness (and chipper attitude mind you) while the lady who
had been in front of me - down there,
rolled past with her groceries. The aged folks in the line behind me just
couldn't get that danged code correct and as soon as my helpful clerk scanned
my last item, she departed to get those numbers with a "you got
this?". It was logical that the other line needed to purchase their goods
in an expedited manner.
I paid my hundred plus bucks electronically, but thankfully,
using my special Kroger Plus card, I saved a whole bunch of money and began the
process of sacking my own groceries. Foolish me didn't realize that you could
spin the bin around until she yelled over her shoulder and pointed out the
obvious. In the meantime two more shoppers rolled past me on their way out of
the store, carts loaded down with bagged goods. I figure the whole process took
3 times longer than simply being patient and waiting for the single cashier to
scan and bag my stuff. Stupid me, it should have been obvious.
I remembered why I shop at Food
Town on North
Main for most of my groceries. If they ain't scanin', they waitin'
to scan. On top of that, they are running some really good deals. Its obvious
to me that the store manager realizes there is an HEB in town. Now if we can
just get Walmart and Kroger to figure this out, we will have some super stores.
Why isn't it obvious to retailers that we live in a 24 hour a day town where
time management (excluding Millennial's of course) is paramount to success?
Many a time I can have an entire cart full of groceries at
Food Town and by the time I place everything on the conveyor, my checker is cheerfully
announcing how much I owe and my stuff is already bagged and in the cart ready
to go? The manager of that store hovers around like a bird of prey looking for
a meal, that's why. This is why I often tip the cashier.
Maybe I am being too harsh on Kroger. Maybe it was shift
change. I honestly don't think I could ever be too hard on Walmart. Maybe the
Mont Belvieu store is better. I don't know. With the traffic, its a half hour
drive from Chaparral Village, but that's obvious.
.
