Empty store shelves & self check-out at Aldi

I've lived in Florida for more than 20 years (from the Netherlands), and in all my years I've not seen such bare store shelves as the last few weeks. Actually , I've never seen it before 2022.
Today , at Aldi, they didn't even have organic eggs. Totally out. The rainbow masked store employee said they were all out. Many empty spots in meat, deli and dairy as well.

Last week there were a row of regular cashier lanes , probably 5, never counted.
Today just the one regular cashier lane , and all the rest stupid self check-out . ALL OF A SUDDEN.
And idiots were off course lining up to use it
How dumb are people?! Why would you even do the work that a cashier did, for FREE, as the prices certainly haven't gone down!
All part of the stupid 'fourth industrial revolution' , aka Klaus Schwab's ideas

I was so livid and fearful. It's starting to feel more and more ominous. I hated shopping since the plandemic, but now it's just at a new level.
I will be looking to shop elsewhere

I was muttering and rambling a bit and the cashier asked what was up, I said because of the self check-out and how it will not lead to lower prices , and that I refused to do that work for free. Then also the card reader couldn't read my chip card, I rolled my eyes at 'stupid technology '

One good thing, she said with a smile , when she handed me the receipt , that she agreed with what I said

I'm in Andalusia Al. They recently added all new self check out lanes at the Walmart here and at first people were stubborn. You could hear them complaining. I made jokes about how we all worked there now. There would actually be lines for the real checkers but now people are just getting used to it and complying with the will of the corporation. People could refuse to use them but they won't. Out of 20 or more check out lanes there might be 2 cashiers. The products on the shelves are getting sparse also. Weird times ahead.

a reply to: xosephx

Yes time to get some chicken and some tubs to grow veggies. They will no doubt try to make it illegal but good luck to them policing it.

Used to get your groceries put into free plastic bags by the service people.

Now its serve yourself and pay 15 cents for the plastic bags.

originally posted by: DaRAGE
Used to get your groceries put into free plastic bags by the service people.

Now its serve yourself and pay 15 cents for the plastic bags.

You still get plastic?
We're paying for paper now, plastic isn't an option

We have a large property and I am scrambling to get it as "off grid" as possible.You are correct about them regulating people growing their own food. They will try and cite health concerns. They are already moving in on some. a reply to: anonentity

a reply to: xosephx

they tried that here, didn't/doesn't work real well, especially on Eagle Sh@@in days. cashier lanes 1 thru 12 lined up snaking in to the women and kids clothing, and hardly any in self checkout comparatively. cashier bosses constant running round trying to get people
into low count lanes. '


side note back when i was a young little fella my dad and us kids and his buddies and their kids would hit three drag strips to go racing,
Andalusia, Atmore and Baker Fl. those were the days my friend.

a reply to: ancientlight

We have 3 Aldi stores within 5 miles of my house. I ALWAYS go to the one with the 6 self-checkout lanes.

The other 2 Aldi's have long lines, due to people fumbling through coupons, or pages of the sale paper because they think something was rung-up incorrectly, or inserting their credit card correctly in the machine, or talking to the 2 or 3 cashiers on duty while checking out.

I avoid those 2 Aldis like the plague, and cheered when other area stores (like Target, Walmart, Home Depot, etc...) installed SELF Check-outs!

a reply to: xosephx

The new police IRS will be in charge of taxing you with your garden. In Japan we have somethg similar. But too difficult to explain

a reply to: ancientlight

We've had self-checkout for several years in CA, and I like it.

It is so much quicker to zip through a week's worth of shopping without having to stand waiting behind some family with a gaggle of screaming grubby, grabby spawn fumbling through pockets for change and coupons.

Time was that they actually Trained "baggers" how to pack a shopping bag; cans on the bottom, eggs in the middle, bread on top - nothing broken, nothing squashed. And nobody promoted to checker until they had served as a bagger first.

Not any more.

After more than one cracked egg or smashed loaf of bread discovered after arriving home, I'd just as soon check and pack my own bag, thank you very much!

Self checking might not reduce the price of groceries, but it might also give stores one less excuse to raise the prices as well.

As to shortages, I haven't seen any evidence in any of the stores I shopped recently.

About 3 or so years ago, they really aggressively forged ahead with the self checkout stations, especially at Walmart. During Covid shutdown, I noticed even more self checkout stations. What occurred to me between not being able to pay cash for groceries - yes that happened twice, scarcity of product on the shelves, lack of staff etc., is that they wanted to force people to purchase less product. No more going thru the checkout lane with heaping carts of on sale items or your favorite food stuffs. Because quite frankly, most people who go through self checkout have about 15 items or less. I myself used to be a two cart shopper back in the day but there is NO WAY I would try to self checkout with even one full cart. So it's a way to curb hoarding for sure.

There have been many here paying attention to the writing on the wall. It isn't a secret that many food sources are now or will be scarce. I order food items for a school and you wouldn't believe the amount of items that are either hit or miss on availability or no longer available and no plans to become so. This started less than a year ago but has gotten worse. Even our commodities from the government are slim pickins. We usually have 4 pages of items to select from. My first order was to select from a list of about 20 items...... not even 1/2 page of choices. To top it off, the school raised the fees for meals. I asked the government people about the lack of items and they stated that between food production and trucking issues, it was going to be a rough TWO YEARS!!!!!

a reply to: lordcomac

Yeah i'm still getting plastic. Papers 20 cents.

Though to be fair, I SHOULD have adapted. I SHOULD bring my own re-usable bags.

I just never could rmember to get them out from the back when i was going shopping, Or i would be at the shops for something else, THEN i decided to go to the supermarket for some food, so I wouldn't have the bags on me.

originally posted by: musicismagic
a reply to: xosephx

The new police IRS will be in charge of taxing you with your garden. In Japan we have somethg similar. But too difficult to explain

Oh no you didn't! Do tell. Please!

originally posted by: carewemust
a reply to: ancientlight

We have 3 Aldi stores within 5 miles of my house. I ALWAYS go to the one with the 6 self-checkout lanes.

The other 2 Aldi's have long lines, due to people fumbling through coupons, or pages of the sale paper because they think something was rung-up incorrectly, or inserting their credit card correctly in the machine, or talking to the 2 or 3 cashiers on duty while checking out.

I avoid those 2 Aldis like the plague, and cheered when other area stores (like Target, Walmart, Home Depot, etc...) installed SELF Check-outs!

You do know that part of the 'great reset' aka 'the fourth industrial revolution' is full automation?

originally posted by: Mantiss2021
a reply to: ancientlight

We've had self-checkout for several years in CA, and I like it.

It is so much quicker to zip through a week's worth of shopping without having to stand waiting behind some family with a gaggle of screaming grubby, grabby spawn fumbling through pockets for change and coupons.

Time was that they actually Trained "baggers" how to pack a shopping bag; cans on the bottom, eggs in the middle, bread on top - nothing broken, nothing squashed. And nobody promoted to checker until they had served as a bagger first.

Not any more.

After more than one cracked egg or smashed loaf of bread discovered after arriving home, I'd just as soon check and pack my own bag, thank you very much!

Self checking might not reduce the price of groceries, but it might also give stores one less excuse to raise the prices as well.

As to shortages, I haven't seen any evidence in any of the stores I shopped recently.

I wouldn't have such a problem with self check-out , if it wasn't for 'the great reset' or the 'fourth industrial revolution'. Klaus Schwab from the WEF has talked about this many times, how it will lead to full automation.
With all that's been going on my alarm bells were instantly going of!

Interesting we just got a new Aldi, they are still working on it, I guess will be ready before Christmas, I shop at Publix, more expensive, but you always find what you need and is not self-checkouts, I will probably visit Aldi when it opens, just to look around and see what they have,

I refuse to go to the cashier isle - ONLY self checkout for me! That's because I can group my items together to make easier unpacking at home, plus I can cram as much as possible in each bag, so I have less bags to carry from car to home. If Im in a real hurry, since I know whats in each bag, I can only bring in bags that need to be put away or needed immediately. I hate when cashiers would put only 3-4 things in a bag & I'd have a dozen bags to carry in

But on the main topic - I noticed on my trip to walmart a week ago that they were out of more things than usual. Although it's peak tourist time on the coast here, it wasn't really tourist related items they were out of.

What I have seen is people scamming the system and not scan all their items. Been a problem at Meijer stores in Michigan. Not sure how it is done though *wink*

a reply to: Zrtst

The money they made by not having a cashier they lose twice over with security. Depends on how bad it gets, if you pretend to scan a few items and pay to make it look good and walk out while security is dealing with about five others they will be losing money big time.
I remember seeing a tv program about a polish foreman that had to feed his crew until he got paid which was when the job was done. He went into the supermarket and filled up his bags , checked out , went to his car and dumped all the gear and then went back in and filled up again with the same items and , just got an extra can of beans, which he showed to the checkout his previous receipt, and just paid for the can of beans which he said he forgot to pick up. : had a good one their wink wink.

originally posted by: DaRAGE
a reply to: lordcomac

Yeah i'm still getting plastic. Papers 20 cents.

Though to be fair, I SHOULD have adapted. I SHOULD bring my own re-usable bags.

I just never could rmember to get them out from the back when i was going shopping, Or i would be at the shops for something else, THEN i decided to go to the supermarket for some food, so I wouldn't have the bags on me.

Be very careful with those reusable bags. They can spread deases like salmonella.

One leaky meat item drips in a bag then grows for days before the bag is used again.

They would be ok for only can goods or the like but they should be washed every time. That costs energy and water for the washing machine making them environmentally unfriendly.

I have the people at the stores look funny when they ask me if I want them and I ask how many times they can be washed.

When I worked in plastic recycling, I can't tell you how many bales of those reusable bags that were in our warehouse. A dozen truck loads per isle and many isles of them.

Do something good for the environment and your health, burn those reusable bags and use paper or plastic. It has safer and uses a lot less resources.