Aldi To Turn Off Lights To Save Money

[Super S]

Aldi is already not the best lit store.

But Aldi is doing so well... I guess? I am really not impressed with their west expansion.

Wonder why retailers haven’t invested in solar tubes, or skylights.

This is an interesting topic. Costco is actively covering up all of their skylights. Not for security reasons either, they're painting them to stop letting the light through. The original Price Club building in San Diego with a cathedral ceiling was redone several years ago to cut in hundreds of skylights. They just painted all of them over and the store feels dark and unpleasant. Target and Stater Bros were using solar tubes with fresnel lenses on all new stores in the 2000's and quit, a few still exist like Fontana, CA Target and Yucaipa Stater Bros. Safeway had put skylights in a few new build stores, such as the Newport Beach Pavilions, and fully removed them in subsequent remodels. The newest Costco stores like Murrieta, CA that opened less than a year ago have reduced to only a dozen or so skylights.

My guess is that modern LED lights save so much power that it's cheaper to run them at 100% versus the added cooling expense and building/merchandise wear and tear caused by the UV light and heat transmitted through the skylights.

The Costco skylights were effective enough that there were light sensors which turned off portions of the store lighting on sunny days. The downside though is that many of the stores for years used mercury vapor lights which would take several minutes to reach full brightness, a problem not present with LEDs. If anything, LEDs would work better in this setup. I don't know that merchandise lingers at Costco long enough where sunlight would damage it, a simple solution would be to use some sort of tinted cover below.

[rwsandiego]

This has been a standard practice for most retailers for over two decades. It's a building code requirement in new construction. Why is this news?

It's "news" to create a ruckus about nothing. Who cares what any retailer does with their stores (other than illegal activities) when they are closed?

[ClownLoach]

Wonder why retailers haven’t invested in solar tubes, or skylights.

This is an interesting topic. Costco is actively covering up all of their skylights. Not for security reasons either, they're painting them to stop letting the light through. The original Price Club building in San Diego with a cathedral ceiling was redone several years ago to cut in hundreds of skylights. They just painted all of them over and the store feels dark and unpleasant. Target and Stater Bros were using solar tubes with fresnel lenses on all new stores in the 2000's and quit, a few still exist like Fontana, CA Target and Yucaipa Stater Bros. Safeway had put skylights in a few new build stores, such as the Newport Beach Pavilions, and fully removed them in subsequent remodels. The newest Costco stores like Murrieta, CA that opened less than a year ago have reduced to only a dozen or so skylights.

My guess is that modern LED lights save so much power that it's cheaper to run them at 100% versus the added cooling expense and building/merchandise wear and tear caused by the UV light and heat transmitted through the skylights.

The Costco skylights were effective enough that there were light sensors which turned off portions of the store lighting on sunny days. The downside though is that many of the stores for years used mercury vapor lights which would take several minutes to reach full brightness, a problem not present with LEDs. If anything, LEDs would work better in this setup. I don't know that merchandise lingers at Costco long enough where sunlight would damage it, a simple solution would be to use some sort of tinted cover below.

I can only think of one Costco that hadn't been converted to LED lights as of 5+ years ago, the original Tustin which had mercury vapor until just last year. Due to opposition to adding a gas station they deferred maintenance. I was shocked when I walked in there and realized how poorly mercury vapor performs especially when it comes to color spectrum - it's like you're shopping in a store that's in black and white. Ultimately that store should have been rebuilt in a larger building on the lot with the gas station added where the store is currently.

The San Diego original I'm speaking of got the skylights after the LED conversion. They're now covered up, and Costco is testing a new, lower light rectangular LED fixture with no lens or diffuser. It looks cheap and in combination with removing the skylights makes the store feel half as light as it used to be... And somehow despite being dim it also has horrible glare if you look upwards. Hopefully Costco realizes that this cheap new fixture is a disaster and they don't roll it out further. There was nothing wrong with the lights they had before (or the skylights).

For Aldi, their new Murrieta store finally opened a couple of weeks ago and it has high windows above the wall fixtures. This is a West facing store and the light makes the store too bright - if you look towards the produce wall in the afternoon you'll be blinded. There are more windows than I've ever seen in a new build Aldi; this store is also all self checkout except for a single register that stays open to handle alcohol sales. The self check was made by a German company I've never heard of, but was easy to use. It doesn't recognize produce PLU codes but all items fit on one screen so you just click on the item you bought and it has you weigh or enter quantity. I prefer the self checkout for Aldi because I always thought it was a waste of my time for the cashier to hand me back my items thrown into my cart so I have to unload a second time on the long front wall counter to bag them. At least now I can scan and bag since Aldi otherwise doesn't respect their customers time.

[veteran+]

I work in a prescription pharmacy and the company tells us to keep the lights on at all times in order for the security cameras to record everything.

Years ago I worked at Ross and they turned out all the lights when the employees left for the night. The problem was that in order for the opening shift to turn on the lights they had to walk through a pitch black store to get to the back of the store to turn on the lights. This was before cell phones with flashlights. The company did not provide flashlights. If you forgot a flashlight, you would have to feel with your hands through a dark obstacle course. You could not even find the timeclock.

Old school...............................I remember!

Turn off all the breakers with a red dot sticker next to them!

I could see Ross being too cheap to purchase energy management systems... (except in new builds where codes require them)

OMG YESSSSSSSS!

[mbz321]

This is an interesting topic. Costco is actively covering up all of their skylights. Not for security reasons either, they're painting them to stop letting the light through.

That's interesting as at the location I work at (East Coast, mind you), my location still has skylights and recently replaced all the ceiling lighting from those 'stadium' style lights (that were already converted to LED bulbs a few years back, although some appeared to be failing within a rather short timeframe) to LED tube 'shop light' type of fixtures. Most of the lights go off and on based on the outside brightness, although I feel like its overly sensitive.

[storewanderer]

For Aldi, their new Murrieta store finally opened a couple of weeks ago and it has high windows above the wall fixtures. This is a West facing store and the light makes the store too bright - if you look towards the produce wall in the afternoon you'll be blinded. There are more windows than I've ever seen in a new build Aldi; this store is also all self checkout except for a single register that stays open to handle alcohol sales. The self check was made by a German company I've never heard of, but was easy to use. It doesn't recognize produce PLU codes but all items fit on one screen so you just click on the item you bought and it has you weigh or enter quantity. I prefer the self checkout for Aldi because I always thought it was a waste of my time for the cashier to hand me back my items thrown into my cart so I have to unload a second time on the long front wall counter to bag them. At least now I can scan and bag since Aldi otherwise doesn't respect their customers time.

I never bought enough at Aldi to be using a cart, have to go over to the bagging area, or use bags, but I can see how that is somewhat of an annoying process to handle goods multiple times.

A self checkout that has so few produce items that they can all fit on a single screen sounds like a dream.

Lidl has been heavy on the self checkouts in the US since day one. It seems Aldi is trying to play catch up.

Other than in SoCal I always found Aldi's checkout to be highly efficient though, so I didn't take issue with the lack of self checkout. With what I've seen in SoCal their service is terrible, front ends are slower and the line is longer (I say line since opening a second lane seems to be very difficult), so they have failed from an efficiency perspective and rather than do something about their absentee management and inefficient employees in SoCal who are not as efficient as in the midwest they just give up and surrender to self checkout. Various other operators run efficient operations in SoCal; they could too if they got more strict with their employees.

Also they can sell liquor through self checkout in CA if they handle it correctly (based on how their employees are I doubt it would happen). The liquor needs to be the last item scanned and from the point the liquor is scanned the employee needs to complete the transaction including handling the payment (customer could do a payment card input on their own like at a human checkstand, but any cash handling would need to be by the employee) and the employee tearing off the receipt/handing it to the customer. Another option is for an entirely separate liquor transaction to be initiated on the self checkout after the customer checks the rest of their items out where the employee handles the whole thing. Since Fresh & Easy closed I am not aware of any chains in CA who are attempting to use the above perfectly legal process to sell liquor through self checkout.

[HCal]

Aldi had no milk yesterday, except for specialty milk. No whole, 2% or skim milk in any size. Just the vegan and lactose-free milks.

There was a sign saying they are out due to "change of supplier". So I'm wondering who they are changing to. It used to be DFA (former Dean Foods) plant 06-10. My guess is they will switch to Producers or Rock View.

But I am surprised they couldn't plan this better. They should be able to time the change so there is no interruption in supply, especially for such a basic item.

[storewanderer]

Aldi had no milk yesterday, except for specialty milk. No whole, 2% or skim milk in any size. Just the vegan and lactose-free milks.

There was a sign saying they are out due to "change of supplier". So I'm wondering who they are changing to. It used to be DFA (former Dean Foods) plant 06-10. My guess is they will switch to Producers or Rock View.

But I am surprised they couldn't plan this better. They should be able to time the change so there is no interruption in supply, especially for such a basic item.

Any idea how long they were out of stock for? Being out of stock for a day on conventional milk is pretty pathetic but I've seen stores miss deliveries, mess up orders, etc. and that may happen, but it is pretty rare, and usually a weather issue in my area during the winter. However many stores contact a local vendor and get that very high priced milk in so they at least have something to sell.

With the amount of available milk capacity in SoCal and the many available suppliers there is no excuse for any sort of an interruption like this to occur. I suggest you let Aldi's corporate office know your thoughts on this matter. I also wonder if they are out of stock for too long if this will impact their ability to accept WIC. Milk is a key needed item and it is a major disservice to WIC customers for a store that advertises itself as WIC-accepting to not have the WIC items available.

[ClownLoach]

For Aldi, their new Murrieta store finally opened a couple of weeks ago and it has high windows above the wall fixtures. This is a West facing store and the light makes the store too bright - if you look towards the produce wall in the afternoon you'll be blinded. There are more windows than I've ever seen in a new build Aldi; this store is also all self checkout except for a single register that stays open to handle alcohol sales. The self check was made by a German company I've never heard of, but was easy to use. It doesn't recognize produce PLU codes but all items fit on one screen so you just click on the item you bought and it has you weigh or enter quantity. I prefer the self checkout for Aldi because I always thought it was a waste of my time for the cashier to hand me back my items thrown into my cart so I have to unload a second time on the long front wall counter to bag them. At least now I can scan and bag since Aldi otherwise doesn't respect their customers time.

I never bought enough at Aldi to be using a cart, have to go over to the bagging area, or use bags, but I can see how that is somewhat of an annoying process to handle goods multiple times.

A self checkout that has so few produce items that they can all fit on a single screen sounds like a dream.

Lidl has been heavy on the self checkouts in the US since day one. It seems Aldi is trying to play catch up.

Other than in SoCal I always found Aldi's checkout to be highly efficient though, so I didn't take issue with the lack of self checkout. With what I've seen in SoCal their service is terrible, front ends are slower and the line is longer (I say line since opening a second lane seems to be very difficult), so they have failed from an efficiency perspective and rather than do something about their absentee management and inefficient employees in SoCal who are not as efficient as in the midwest they just give up and surrender to self checkout. Various other operators run efficient operations in SoCal; they could too if they got more strict with their employees.

Also they can sell liquor through self checkout in CA if they handle it correctly (based on how their employees are I doubt it would happen). The liquor needs to be the last item scanned and from the point the liquor is scanned the employee needs to complete the transaction including handling the payment (customer could do a payment card input on their own like at a human checkstand, but any cash handling would need to be by the employee) and the employee tearing off the receipt/handing it to the customer. Another option is for an entirely separate liquor transaction to be initiated on the self checkout after the customer checks the rest of their items out where the employee handles the whole thing. Since Fresh & Easy closed I am not aware of any chains in CA who are attempting to use the above perfectly legal process to sell liquor through self checkout.

So I should mention that the self checkout at Aldi allows them to merchandise more space. Instead of having five or six full length conveyor belt checklanes (which we know never get used aside from one) they can fit 7 self checks and leave one full service. They remove most of the old front wall bagging area and place several self checks there. The one full service checkstand is a short conveyor belt now as well. Basically when they're done they wind up being able to extend three aisles plus move the seasonal "Aldi Buys" to the front end where they hit you when you walk in the door. Everything about the change makes sense. The inevitable slow checkout line is gone for the most part, and they're able to add more food product. I am not enough of an expert on their format but I saw many items I haven't seen at other locations; it seems they're adding more "fancy" items versus food staples. Adding more items you might expect to see at their German relative Trader Joe's. More snacks, candies, breads/baked goods, pastas, spices and seasonings, sauces, soups, mixes and so on. Clearly the top focus of the self checkout project is to expand the assortment first by making room in the store for more food. Some of these original SoCal Aldi stores seem to have 25% of the floor space tied up in the front end. With the self checkout and moved seasonal I estimate less than 10% of floor is now front end so 15% of the space goes back to product. There's an easy guaranteed 15% sales comp for a year, maybe more as customers become more confident that they can actually make a quick in and out Aldi trip which was not possible at all before.

[storewanderer]

The entire point of the long belted checkouts at Aldi was so they could have 3-4 customers loading up onto the belt at once so there was never a period where the cashier was waiting for the customer to unload items onto the belt or that annoying thing where a customer rolls up next to the cashier/scanner, starts talking, and slowly unloads one item at a time so the cashier slowly scans one item at a time.

Aldi seems to continue to do things that hinder its previous efficiency for some reason. Even if they will move to mostly self checkout, that one regular register is still important and still should be expected to be very efficient as has been the expectation with Aldi in non-west regions forever.

They probably didn't need 7 long belted checkouts in the first place. They probably only needed 3-4 of them even before self checkout.