If you are a fan of self checkout lanes, you may not like what’s happening in Long Beach that’s impacting 19 stores citywide.
The self-checkout kiosks at some Long Beach stores may soon be extinct due to a new city ordinance that was approved last month.
The Long Beach City Council approved the ordinance on Aug. 12 which establishes “certain staffing requirements for self-service checkout stations at grocery and drug stores to advance public safety and prevent retail theft.”
Vons and Albertsons are some of the stores in Long Beach that have shut down self-checkout lanes.
Each store is handling the changes differently but shoppers have been met with these signs on the doors saying it is due to a local ordinance that went into effect Monday dubbed “safe stores are staffed stores “
Long Beach is the first city in the nation to pass something like this.
The ordinance is aimed at preventing retail theft and union representatives argue it keeps workers safe. However it’s also forcing store operators to hire more union labor.
The new ordinance establishes a 3:1 staffing ratio and limits self-checkout lanes to purchases of 15 or fewer items.
It also bans certain locked items from being purchased through self-checkout.
Stores have 30 days to implement the new rules and they can be sued or met with fines if they don’t comply.