Triple-belted

The checkstands are special too, featuring a pair of belts downstream of the register. As its name implies, Pak 'n Save's gimmick was that you bagged your purchases yourself, instead of them having baggers (or having cashiers bag items). Designs like this are very common in Europe, where it has long been the norm for customers to be in charge of bagging, but I guess this was a novel concept for Americans back in the 80s and 90s. And even into the 00s, a lot of the reviews I found of Pak 'n Save stores grumbled about having to bag your own groceries! How times have changed, with dedicated baggers being a rare sight and most stores leaning heavily on self checkout. (Personally, I hate having someone bag groceries for me, which is one of the big reasons I prefer self checkout, but I suspect most people don't agree with me.) The large pads on the end of the checkstands are to allow customers to control the belts on each side; while most modern checkouts have more discreet switches (if they have a downstream belt at all), I remember playing with the turntable checkouts at my local Albertsons when I was little, using the same giant pads! The little tables below would have been for bags themselves, something that would have had to go when California started charging for bags. I'm not sure if that prompted this store to switch to cashier-bagging or if they do the same thing as in Europe, where you have to ask the cashier for bags in advance.