This picture was originally intended to show the customer service counter, along with a little bit of the liquor store decor between it and the giant Q, but what's probably more interesting here is something I wasn't paying any attention to at the time -- the checkout counters themselves. These have the belt
downstream of the scanner, not upstream, because they were supposed to be used with
old-fashioned high-basket, folding carts, something QFC used to use extensively but hasn't in many years, as far as I'm aware. These checkouts are still a common sight at older QFCs that haven't seen comprehensive remodels, but it's strange to see them in a store like this that's not all that old and has had at least one major remodel along with the typical decor swaps.
Here in Houston, Kroger themselves used to use the gated, folding carts for many years. They only really started fading away as Greenhouse stores started to become more rare. I can't really say for sure when the two-belt system became ubiquitous in Houston Krogers, but certainly it's not something that has been around forever. So, with that in mind, it's odd that QFC still has these older register setups! You'd think that if Kroger eliminated them in one area, they would have done it everywhere. I guess that's not the case at least up to this point.
ReplyDeleteIn some ways, the two-belt system is more convenient for shoppers carrying their groceries or using a hand basket. For those using a cart, I think the one-belt system is more convenient since the cashier does all the work. Since I use a cart more often then not, that means I'm usually at a disadvantage with the current setup!
All this talk about vintage Krogers is timely because I visited a somewhat retro and bizarre Greenhouse Kroger here recently. It's actually a store that used to have a neighboring Kroger Superx store, but Kroger expanded into the old Superx space when Superx was eliminated in Houston. At least with this location, the expansion was not seamless so there is a big wall through part of the store and the part in the Superx feels quite strange. That's not the only strange part about this store, but maybe there will be an HHR blog post about that at some point! The store does have the Food 4 Less decor as well so that's another odd thing. But, yeah, even this store has two belts! Link: https://goo.gl/maps/Jd6Mx7RGjvYF48o58
One thing I found quite odd while browsing the Kroger website today is how many stores here still do not offer online pickup orders. The store in question above does not, but other newer stores don't have it either. Maybe this isn't news, but I just kind of assumed all Krogers had online pickup by now. I guess not. It's not like I use online pickup anyway so these stores not having dedicated parking spots for pickup and such is actually a benefit for my in-person shopping.
Yeah, it is weird these checkout counters keep hanging on -- it's probably related to QFC's seemingly limited funding for remodels that I've been discussing. I suspect that the switch to belts and customer-unloading carts was done to make things more efficient for the cashiers rather than the customers, since I agree, those old-style carts were quite nice -- and that's even with the only store I ever used with them having home-made checkout counters rather than proper ones designed to be used with those carts -- and I imagine most customers use carts these days. Of course, I almost always use self checkout, so it doesn't really matter to me!
DeleteWow, that is a weird store -- looks like Kroger really hasn't put much investment into making it work particularly well!
Interesting -- basically all QFCs and Fred Meyers seem to have pickup at this point, whether or not they have very much infrastructure for that. Even Safeway, which got into the game pretty late, has their version of pickup pretty much everywhere, though not at my local store for some reason.