Following the lead of two Southern California cities, Anaheim is considering regulations on self-checkout lanes for grocery and drug retail stores in the city.
“I started this thought process as I have visited local supermarkets where they have self-checkout,” said Councilmember Norma Campos Kurtz, who, along with Mayor Ashleigh Aitken, brought the idea up for council consideration. “And over a period of time, there are less and less and less cashiers available and, in some cases, none at all.”
After some discussion on whether to add more regulations to self-checkout stations as the other cities have done, including a minimum on staff numbers, the council voted 5-2 this week, March 3, to at least further explore the idea.
“Understanding that Long Beach and Costa Mesa have done something,” Campos Kurtz said, “is there something we can do?”
“What I have noticed is, particularly older shoppers, don’t know what to do or have struggles,” she said, adding that employees overseeing checkouts may feel overwhelmed during rushes and the lack of customer service could deter shoppers.
Long Beach passed the first law in the state in June, creating staffing standards for self-checkout lanes in grocery and drug stores. And last month, Costa Mesa followed suit, becoming the first in the county to do so, requiring one employee to oversee every three checkout stations, capping self-checkout transactions at 15 items and barring the purchase of any item kept in a locked case.
Councilmembers Ryan Balius and Natalie Meeks were opposed to bringing similar regulations to Anaheim.
“I really am concerned with putting our businesses in Anaheim at a financial disadvantage with more burdensome regulations,” Meeks said. “And with the state looking at this, I am not in any hurry to rush forward with an ordinance that may put our businesses at a disadvantage. I would prefer that the state or county take a more global look at this.”
Balius echoed a similar concern, saying, “I believe that this is an issue that should ultimately be addressed by the free market, rather than new city regulations mandating minimum staff levels.”
City staffers are expected to come back with a draft ordinance, modeled after Costa Mesa’s, and to explore whether these regulations should be expanded beyond grocery and drug retail stores and to other box stores in the city.