Boston Market

[Alpha8472]

The coin shortage is still around. The supply of coins is low so many stores and restaurants are still running low on coins.

There is an appliance shortage still. There is a shortage of parts that come from overseas.

[BillyGr]

The coin shortage is still around. The supply of coins is low so many stores and restaurants are still running low on coins.

There is an appliance shortage still. There is a shortage of parts that come from overseas.

And yet others have plenty - maybe it is just those running said stores that have trouble getting what they need when they need it?

Also to add on the original theme, the last Boston Market in the Albany NY area (Latham) closed at some point fairly recently, and the building (which was originally a McDonalds - they moved and I believe that was during the time they owned Boston Market/Chicken, so filled the spot with their own brand) is being demolished for what people have reported is to be a Popeye's.
(This all showed up in a posting about the opening of the first Chik Fil A in the region, along with several others that are proposed, one not too far from this former Boston Market, though some were thinking that was what was going in this spot).

[storewanderer]

I don't know what is going on with the coin thing. Sometimes I see the signs and think surely at this point, those must be old signs. Then I see a customer paying and the place is verbally asking for exact change or telling them they are short coins.

Popeyes will likely be a much smaller footprint than the McDonalds/Boston Market building was.

It also appears there has been some closure activity of those odd Pizza Hut conversion units in PA. The unit in Feasterville-Trevose is already gone. Also appears the unit in Pottstown was evicted this month (doesn't appear to be a conversion unit).

[Alpha8472]

I work in a pharmacy, and people are always commenting about dirty coins. They hate bringing dirty coins with them. Most say they have lots at home. That is the issue. People are more germophobic than ever. They never bring coins, and they expect stores to give change. The great hoarding of coins is still around. Trying to get them to bring in coins from home is like pulling teeth.

The increase in card use from the pandemic has decreased the circulation of coins and still has not recovered. The worst part is when people drop coins. They don't even bother to pick them up anymore. They just leave it because it is so dirty.

[veteran+]

I work in a pharmacy, and people are always commenting about dirty coins. They hate bringing dirty coins with them. Most say they have lots at home. That is the issue. People are more germophobic than ever. They never bring coins, and they expect stores to give change. The great hoarding of coins is still around. Trying to get them to bring in coins from home is like pulling teeth.

The increase in card use from the pandemic has decreased the circulation of coins and still has not recovered. The worst part is when people drop coins. They don't even bother to pick them up anymore. They just leave it because it is so dirty.

Yup!

I only use credit cards. If I know that an establishment charges a fee to use my card, I will bring cash.

What ever change I get back (including paper) I quickly use (sometimes in combo with a credit card) and get rid of all of it.

I used to purchase quarters for washing large comforters at the laundromat. Now I just load money on a pay card (no charge for that).

BTW..........................I pick up coins from the floor (wash my hands and the coin) and use it asap.



They say that only poor folks do not pick up coins from the ground

[storewanderer]

I work in a pharmacy, and people are always commenting about dirty coins. They hate bringing dirty coins with them. Most say they have lots at home. That is the issue. People are more germophobic than ever. They never bring coins, and they expect stores to give change. The great hoarding of coins is still around. Trying to get them to bring in coins from home is like pulling teeth.

The increase in card use from the pandemic has decreased the circulation of coins and still has not recovered. The worst part is when people drop coins. They don't even bother to pick them up anymore. They just leave it because it is so dirty.

Yup!

I only use credit cards. If I know that an establishment charges a fee to use my card, I will bring cash.

What ever change I get back (including paper) I quickly use (sometimes in combo with a credit card) and get rid of all of it.

I used to purchase quarters for washing large comforters at the laundromat. Now I just load money on a pay card (no charge for that).

BTW..........................I pick up coins from the floor (wash my hands and the coin) and use it asap.



They say that only poor folks do not pick up coins from the ground

In the past when dealing with a large amount of coins all day my hands would often be quite black, it was really bad. One place, I had very close access to a faucet near my work area though it was a janitorial closet it had a faucet for filling mop buckets that could be used for hand washing and we put soap there also.

This is also one of the good things about those grocery store "change machines" (Walgreens used to have one change machine at one register in the store too but seems to have gotten rid of it). The cashier did not have to handle coins unless the customer gave them coins (which was not often) so it was not only good for efficiency but also good for cleanliness.

I do suggest holding some cash though. System issues cause card processing to go down sometimes. Last week I went to Smiths and they had a sign on the door that said "cash only" but I walked in through self checkout and saw people using cards so I figured that is an old sign. When I went to pay, I learned digital coupons were down, fuel points accumulation was down (receipt refers you to call customer service for "pricing issues"), and yes they took only credit (not EBT and not PIN debit) cards only and it took 1-2 minutes to process the card, but the card DID eventually process and authorize live (not an offline authorization). I also encountered multiple cash only Walgreens over the past year due to system issues there (same deal of digital coupons not working).

I think I'd like to see cash acceptance in major chain stores go through an automated machine only (like the self checkout). Even if at the human cashier- okay- put an automated machine there for the bills to be inserted into and for change to be made. This would alleviate cash shortages, reduce robbery risk, and address the cleanliness issue. The only employee who would handle cash would be the office clerk who refilled the cash accepting devices.

[Alpha8472]

Walmart has terrible self checkout machines. I see employees refilling coins in a slow process. It seemed like they had to fill using a single coin slot. That makes one self checkout machine usuable for a long time. What kind of system is that?

Coin machines jam very often. I remember seeing repairmen in the laundry room fixing the machines and they left piles of coins behind. These were all jammed in the machines. They need to improve the coin acceptance technology as a single slot is prone to jamming and slowness. I remember when the NCR self checkout machines used to have a large coin opening where you could dump a handful of coins all at once. Then it got jammed and they added a plastic cover that turned it into a single slot coin acceptor.

[storewanderer]

Still no chicken at Reno Boston Market.

I've had receipts not print on two NCR self checkouts in the past week (one was at Save Mart, the other was I forget where). These were both newer units. I cannot believe, the guts of these machines and the inside area of the printers, look no different than these machines did in the initial units used in Kmart then Albertsons. Try to change a paper roll in one of these machines, it is an unbelievable chore and not easy.

I noticed on Wal Mart's newest NCR installs they use a freestanding printer instead of one inside the unit and it is a simple printer- if paper needs to be changed you pop it open, take out the old roll, and put in the new roll and pull it outward and close it. So NCR seems to be finally making some changes to these machines.

[storewanderer]

Reno Boston Market appeared to be having some repairs done today. Was not open to customers today. Some unmarked truck was there and there were various hoses/tubes out on the sidewalk. All of the doors to the location were open (main doors, back door, drive through window, and patio door). Not going to speculate on what they were doing in there, but something tells me it wasn't fixing the oven.

[Alpha8472]

Sewage might have backed up and the toxic sewer gases overwhelmed everyone inside. It happens often especially at Walmart stores. A Jack In The Box near me decided to shut down instead of paying for extensive repairs.