Walmart 2023 Closings

[ClownLoach]

Another thing I am seeing are people who are honest and pay for their purchases, but are absolutely adamant about refusing to pay for bags, and just put their items back in the cart. I have seen this often at WinCo (where you bag your own groceries) as well as Walmart and others which have self checkout. Many of these customers are stopped at the door at Walmart, but generally are not harassed if they have a receipt. But there are people who do not save receipts and instead rely on their phones to document all purchases, and more than once I have seen receipts left behind at self-checkout, and people fumbling with their phone to show that they just paid with their card, phone app, or whatever at the exit, clogging up the line. But this also illustrates another point, with some people not wanting to pay for bags, and some merchandise not having sensors, it could be relatively easy to walk out the door with shoplifted items. A store like WinCo can get really busy at times (more so than Walmart) and they do not have sensors, or people at the door monitoring things except for the self-checkout attendant, which is usually facing away from the doors. It could be relatively easy to blend in.

Winco here has a posted ten item limit for self checkout and the attendant will actually boot you from the area if she sees you have more. She is firm about it and will walk right up to you and tell you that you have too many items for self checkout at the same time she scans her login card on your register and voids your transaction. This happened to me, she didn't see that I had a lot of smaller items until I got to the register itself; I figured the sign was more to discourage the "slow" users who struggle with the simple process of pressing "pay now" (that always baffles me when I see it). While I waited in line at a regular register I did see her boot a few more folks who had suspiciously large baskets with multiple packages of meat and laundry detergent.

[storewanderer]

Winco here has a posted ten item limit for self checkout and the attendant will actually boot you from the area if she sees you have more. She is firm about it and will walk right up to you and tell you that you have too many items for self checkout at the same time she scans her login card on your register and voids your transaction. This happened to me, she didn't see that I had a lot of smaller items until I got to the register itself; I figured the sign was more to discourage the "slow" users who struggle with the simple process of pressing "pay now" (that always baffles me when I see it). While I waited in line at a regular register I did see her boot a few more folks who had suspiciously large baskets with multiple packages of meat and laundry detergent.

WinCo in Reno had signs that they did not allow turkey or roasts through self checkout throughout the holidays. I've never tried to take a cart to their self checkout.

I wonder if a hand basket with over 10 items (not hard to do) would go un-noticed.

If the attendant wanted to be really a jerk they could remotely suspend and then void the transaction from the monitor station and yell at you to go to a regular lane. That is probably what they'd do in Reno with this policy since it takes a major crisis to get the attendant who is sitting at a chair that I think they took from the slot machines, up at the monitor station, to actually get up from the chair.

[storewanderer]

This is all kind of comical.

Whenever new tech comes around under the guise of "faster", "cheaper", efficient", "convenient", "environmental" and even "you are in control", it is all about business operators saving money for themselves via reducing labor and other expenses. This includes the Amazon like technologies being played with (though that is proving to be a money pit).

Thing is, good or bad ideas need supervision (labor) and quick fine tuning (labor). Think about self checkouts that are under supervised or unattended.

All of that creates delicious pathways for people to steal. Why cram a huge sirloin steak in between your legs (I have seen this all over from NY to FL to CO to CA) when the store gives you the means to walk out with a bag or the opportunity to make believe at the self checkout, etc, etc?

Heck, we even let people come in with backpacks and such.

Also, that 90% out of a 100% not stealing if no one is looking? Nah.................. I believe it is much higher than that!

Top notch customer service, bodies on the floor, anticipating customers' needs, "can I help you find something", etc. is what diminishes theft. But all of that requires LABOR. Well trained of course.

BTW................I have seen shoppers at the Beverly Center mall and many others with reusable bags in tow when shopping.

I think these things are usually all about the money but I am not sure these bag regulations are panning out. Back when Safeway did its maneuver with the Union to get the CA statewide bag ban passed, in 2014 or whatever it was, selling bags at 10 cents would generate a nice little profit for them; it was going to be a 50%+ mark up. They saw it as a way to make extra profit and cut supply costs. They also forecasted large sales of reusable cloth bags that had 300%+ mark up which never panned out. Paper bag cost is well above 10 cents now and the super thick plastic bag cost is hovering right at 10 cents (look for an increase soon with oil/natural gas skyrocketing). Theft has increased at the same time as reusable bags get mandated whether or not the two are connected can be argued but I think there is some (not complete) connection.

Backpacks are a problem- you disallow backpacks (which I agree should not be allowed) but what about purses/highly covered up multi-compartment strollers? Never any question on those. Strollers are watched really closely by loss prevention now.

I can't believe some of the dumb stuff people will do to steal. A lot worse than sticking meat between their legs. Also funny they are willing to use that box of (whatever small drugstore item they opened the box from and removed the contents of) they stuck down their pants, but whatever they feel comfortable with...

[veteran+]

Another thing I am seeing are people who are honest and pay for their purchases, but are absolutely adamant about refusing to pay for bags, and just put their items back in the cart. I have seen this often at WinCo (where you bag your own groceries) as well as Walmart and others which have self checkout. Many of these customers are stopped at the door at Walmart, but generally are not harassed if they have a receipt. But there are people who do not save receipts and instead rely on their phones to document all purchases, and more than once I have seen receipts left behind at self-checkout, and people fumbling with their phone to show that they just paid with their card, phone app, or whatever at the exit, clogging up the line. But this also illustrates another point, with some people not wanting to pay for bags, and some merchandise not having sensors, it could be relatively easy to walk out the door with shoplifted items. A store like WinCo can get really busy at times (more so than Walmart) and they do not have sensors, or people at the door monitoring things except for the self-checkout attendant, which is usually facing away from the doors. It could be relatively easy to blend in.

Winco here has a posted ten item limit for self checkout and the attendant will actually boot you from the area if she sees you have more. She is firm about it and will walk right up to you and tell you that you have too many items for self checkout at the same time she scans her login card on your register and voids your transaction. This happened to me, she didn't see that I had a lot of smaller items until I got to the register itself; I figured the sign was more to discourage the "slow" users who struggle with the simple process of pressing "pay now" (that always baffles me when I see it). While I waited in line at a regular register I did see her boot a few more folks who had suspiciously large baskets with multiple packages of meat and laundry detergent.

EXCELLENT enforcement!

[veteran+]

This is all kind of comical.

Whenever new tech comes around under the guise of "faster", "cheaper", efficient", "convenient", "environmental" and even "you are in control", it is all about business operators saving money for themselves via reducing labor and other expenses. This includes the Amazon like technologies being played with (though that is proving to be a money pit).

Thing is, good or bad ideas need supervision (labor) and quick fine tuning (labor). Think about self checkouts that are under supervised or unattended.

All of that creates delicious pathways for people to steal. Why cram a huge sirloin steak in between your legs (I have seen this all over from NY to FL to CO to CA) when the store gives you the means to walk out with a bag or the opportunity to make believe at the self checkout, etc, etc?

Heck, we even let people come in with backpacks and such.

Also, that 90% out of a 100% not stealing if no one is looking? Nah.................. I believe it is much higher than that!

Top notch customer service, bodies on the floor, anticipating customers' needs, "can I help you find something", etc. is what diminishes theft. But all of that requires LABOR. Well trained of course.

BTW................I have seen shoppers at the Beverly Center mall and many others with reusable bags in tow when shopping.

I think these things are usually all about the money but I am not sure these bag regulations are panning out. Back when Safeway did its maneuver with the Union to get the CA statewide bag ban passed, in 2014 or whatever it was, selling bags at 10 cents would generate a nice little profit for them; it was going to be a 50%+ mark up. They saw it as a way to make extra profit and cut supply costs. They also forecasted large sales of reusable cloth bags that had 300%+ mark up which never panned out. Paper bag cost is well above 10 cents now and the super thick plastic bag cost is hovering right at 10 cents (look for an increase soon with oil/natural gas skyrocketing). Theft has increased at the same time as reusable bags get mandated whether or not the two are connected can be argued but I think there is some (not complete) connection.

Backpacks are a problem- you disallow backpacks (which I agree should not be allowed) but what about purses/highly covered up multi-compartment strollers? Never any question on those. Strollers are watched really closely by loss prevention now.

I can't believe some of the dumb stuff people will do to steal. A lot worse than sticking meat between their legs. Also funny they are willing to use that box of (whatever small drugstore item they opened the box from and removed the contents of) they stuck down their pants, but whatever they feel comfortable with...

Here's the thing:

If you walk in my store with a HUGE purse or multi compartment stroller or electric wheel chair or whatever.........

Expect to be followed and monitored and possibly more. I do not care if your are 100 years old or a Saint.

[BillyGr]

Another thing I am seeing are people who are honest and pay for their purchases, but are absolutely adamant about refusing to pay for bags, and just put their items back in the cart. I have seen this often at WinCo (where you bag your own groceries) as well as Walmart and others which have self checkout. Many of these customers are stopped at the door at Walmart, but generally are not harassed if they have a receipt. But there are people who do not save receipts and instead rely on their phones to document all purchases, and more than once I have seen receipts left behind at self-checkout, and people fumbling with their phone to show that they just paid with their card, phone app, or whatever at the exit, clogging up the line. But this also illustrates another point, with some people not wanting to pay for bags, and some merchandise not having sensors, it could be relatively easy to walk out the door with shoplifted items. A store like WinCo can get really busy at times (more so than Walmart) and they do not have sensors, or people at the door monitoring things except for the self-checkout attendant, which is usually facing away from the doors. It could be relatively easy to blend in.

Winco here has a posted ten item limit for self checkout and the attendant will actually boot you from the area if she sees you have more. She is firm about it and will walk right up to you and tell you that you have too many items for self checkout at the same time she scans her login card on your register and voids your transaction. This happened to me, she didn't see that I had a lot of smaller items until I got to the register itself; I figured the sign was more to discourage the "slow" users who struggle with the simple process of pressing "pay now" (that always baffles me when I see it). While I waited in line at a regular register I did see her boot a few more folks who had suspiciously large baskets with multiple packages of meat and laundry detergent.

EXCELLENT enforcement!

Of the STUPIDEST rule in the world! If someone knows how to use the self checkout, they can scan 10 items or 100 - it simply DOES NOT MATTER!

[babs]

Winco here has a posted ten item limit for self checkout and the attendant will actually boot you from the area if she sees you have more. She is firm about it and will walk right up to you and tell you that you have too many items for self checkout at the same time she scans her login card on your register and voids your transaction. This happened to me, she didn't see that I had a lot of smaller items until I got to the register itself; I figured the sign was more to discourage the "slow" users who struggle with the simple process of pressing "pay now" (that always baffles me when I see it). While I waited in line at a regular register I did see her boot a few more folks who had suspiciously large baskets with multiple packages of meat and laundry detergent.

EXCELLENT enforcement!

Of the STUPIDEST rule in the world! If someone knows how to use the self checkout, they can scan 10 items or 100 - it simply DOES NOT MATTER!

Completely agree. I shop Winco and have never had a clerk say anything about going over 10 items. If she tried to pull this on me, I'd walk out and complain to corporate.

[storewanderer]

EXCELLENT enforcement!

Of the STUPIDEST rule in the world! If someone knows how to use the self checkout, they can scan 10 items or 100 - it simply DOES NOT MATTER!

Completely agree. I shop Winco and have never had a clerk say anything about going over 10 items. If she tried to pull this on me, I'd walk out and complain to corporate.

Early self checkouts typically had an item limit. 20 years ago...

There are many reasons for an item limit beyond loss prevention. It helps to make it faster for customers to use self checkout (watch someone trying to do a full cart self checkout at Wal Mart and it is a painful 10-15 minute process- granted Wal Mart alleviates that being an issue in these remodels that have 30+ self checkouts if they have them all open) to get in and out quickly as units open up faster. An item limit also helps improve the customer experience as the more complex the transaction, the better suited the transaction is for a cashier.

The WinCo self checkouts I usually encounter are medium sized units, the ones in Reno only have one rack of plastic bags on each unit.

I am trying to think though- WinCo has that new store it opened out in Sparks. I think the self checkouts there are larger than at the other WinCo units. On those, there are either 2 or 4 plastic bag racks on at least some of them. So it would seem those self checkouts are designed for larger orders. Certainly more than 10 items.

[babs]

Of the STUPIDEST rule in the world! If someone knows how to use the self checkout, they can scan 10 items or 100 - it simply DOES NOT MATTER!

Completely agree. I shop Winco and have never had a clerk say anything about going over 10 items. If she tried to pull this on me, I'd walk out and complain to corporate.

Early self checkouts typically had an item limit. 20 years ago...

There are many reasons for an item limit beyond loss prevention. It helps to make it faster for customers to use self checkout (watch someone trying to do a full cart self checkout at Wal Mart and it is a painful 10-15 minute process- granted Wal Mart alleviates that being an issue in these remodels that have 30+ self checkouts if they have them all open) to get in and out quickly as units open up faster. An item limit also helps improve the customer experience as the more complex the transaction, the better suited the transaction is for a cashier.

The WinCo self checkouts I usually encounter are medium sized units, the ones in Reno only have one rack of plastic bags on each unit.

I am trying to think though- WinCo has that new store it opened out in Sparks. I think the self checkouts there are larger than at the other WinCo units. On those, there are either 2 or 4 plastic bag racks on at least some of them. So it would seem those self checkouts are designed for larger orders. Certainly more than 10 items.

Self-Checkouts started out as replacements for Express Lanes that had item limits. They are no long express lanes as most stores consider them just part of the checkout process. As you said, at most Walmarts you don't really have a choice anymore. Target hardly opens any regular registers anymore. Kroger has shifted to mostly self-checkout.

[retailfanmitchell019]

Something to bring up with Walmart's Portland troubles is this: https://www.yesmagazine.org/economy/201 ... om-walmart