Fortunately the Albertsons, Kroger deal has a zero percent chance of passing Judge Adrienne Nelson who was specifically selected to kill it and implement the DOJ and FTC's new merger guidelines.ClownLoach wrote: ↑April 26th, 2024, 9:03 amI don't think it looked like that on the screen. It was very plain looking with minimal light blue color.storewanderer wrote: ↑April 25th, 2024, 10:41 pmThat sounds like the POS they've been using for the past couple of years at least in some stores. It is a strange system. This is the GK Omni POS system. https://www.sap.com/products/crm/omnichannel-pos.htmlClownLoach wrote: ↑April 25th, 2024, 5:20 am
It was NCR hardware but with a touch screen and 10 key pad, but I didn't recognize the software. Primarily white and light blue interface with a touchscreen 10 key in the middle of the screen, that seemed a bit redundant to me. The cashiers were using the physical keypad. Produce PLU issue is really odd, no problem with most items like red leaf lettuce, bulk garlic, bell peppers, but then the PLU for Swiss Chard and Jalapeño peppers weren't standard and they had to look them up. Of course the new cashier didn't know how and the experienced one sent in to train didn't know the numbers for that system, both were 5 digits and started with a 9. Neither one was organic. Whole thing was odd and I asked and she said many PLUs are not used on this system and they have to use the scan book a lot. That's going to get old and fast.
I don't think the register had the keys along the edges of the screen as older NCR hardware used to have, it is definitely a good size touch screen but the shape of those older registers. Come to think of it, I don't think they had self checkout but I could be wrong. They had a large crowd of employees clustered around the front entrance near the registers greeting customers as they entered so I really didn't notice if they did. No offense, I've run many grand openings and it's critical to have every customer greeted and service available to help customers find their items in a new store. But, you don't have to have a large crowd especially many hours after the actual ceremony and crowds have died down. Two or three would be fine but they had at least a dozen people including what appeared to be some regional management standing around patting themselves on the back. Somewhere in the store there's work to be done.
This is the receipt that system produces.
https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/smart-a ... 4U9m0box2A
Were they allowed to hand key the PLUs for the peppers at all or did they have to "scan" it? I wonder if this is deliberate to force the cashier to look at the photos of the various peppers and select the correct one instead of assuming every pepper is either a jalapeno or an anaheim/serrano or some other cheap one...
The receipt is slightly different too although it does sort by category and quantity.
They were allowed to hand key the PLU from the book. I just thought it was bizarre that they are not using the industry standard ones that are on produce stickers all the time. I do wonder if this store is testing a larger assortment of produce and that has something to do with it, maybe not all the PLU codes were set up yet? Or they have some other IT work in progress but they just had to get the store open? Even the head cashier from another store who was helping seemed to be surprised. When I was leaving they were having trouble with the register at another lane. Something definitely not ready for prime time that should have been resolved before a Grand Opening in one of the most competitive little areas I can name in SoCal.
The produce selection is better than the remodeled Stater Bros down the street which for some strange reason feels like they reduced the display sizes. I don't think they had an official grand opening at Stater yet even though it appears all construction is done, but the store does not feel "finished" for some reason after walking in more detail especially produce which feels like it's missing several islands or something. Actually it feels like S&F had more produce than Sprouts and were on par with Ralphs and Albertsons. Never seen quite so much produce selection in a S&F, it's a noticeable difference between some of the other newer converted grocery stores like Tustin and this one. I'm just concerned I saw some spoiled stuff and now had some spoil which is odd for a literally brand new day one store. As we know, the California customer is the most fickle in the world (auto correct just changed that to a different six letter F word ending in -Ed, how funny). They have no patience and if their first experience is bad they don't return for a second one as the Haggen folks can tell you. So it's a nice store, has incredible potential, but I have no confidence in their ability to maintain this long-term as there are already cracks showing. If the rumors are true that Costco is going to drop down there too, which honestly I thought were done when they opened Murrieta but I'm hearing them again, it's going to be a rough road for S&F to retain much of a business customer base.
Personally I would have much rather had a Northgate, H-Mart, or 99 Ranch in that location. Maybe I should write a letter to the CEO of C&S about the two local dump Vons stores he's going to receive if the merger goes through and how much he could probably make flipping them to a couple of the above, and how happy we would all be if he did.
C&S would not have gotten the Vons in Murrieta, anyway. It has a Vons fuel station. Kroger would have surrendered the Albertsons across the street.