Retail Watchers

Aldi is turning off its lights after hours to save money and reduce its carbon footprint.

I remember once Safeway had some sort of computer problem where the lights turned out at one store during open hours. There were no fluorescent lights and the fridge lights were out. The only lights were some of the Lifestyle decor spotlights. You needed a flashlight to shop at the store.

https://www.supermarketnews.com/retail- ... its-lights

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.

Why were lights on after hours anyway to begin with? (I'm guessing a few might be left on for security purposes)
Also, I've never noticed any issues with lighting at Aldi...maybe some of the 'old school' locations were kind of dull and dim, but any modern store seems fine to me.

mbz321 wrote: ↑June 12th, 2023, 5:38 pm Why were lights on after hours anyway to begin with? (I'm guessing a few might be left on for security purposes)
Also, I've never noticed any issues with lighting at Aldi...maybe some of the 'old school' locations were kind of dull and dim, but any modern store seems fine to me.

Lights should be dimmed after hours for security reasons, but there are many retail stores that do shut the lights basically 100% off after hours.

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?

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.

Alpha8472 wrote: ↑June 12th, 2023, 9:56 pm 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!

storewanderer wrote: ↑June 12th, 2023, 5:25 pm 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.

veteran+ wrote: ↑June 13th, 2023, 8:36 am

Alpha8472 wrote: ↑June 12th, 2023, 9:56 pm 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)

jamcool wrote: ↑June 13th, 2023, 10:00 am

storewanderer wrote: ↑June 12th, 2023, 5:25 pm 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.