shoplifting incidents<\/a> in the U.S. increased by 93% from 2019 to 2023. In 2023, retailers surveyed by the federation reported an average of 177 retail thefts per day. <\/p>\nThe Long Beach regulations require that a large store have at least one staff member for every three self-checkout stations it uses. It sets a limit of 15 items per customer for self-checkout. Meanwhile, any items locked inside a case in the store can no longer be bought through self-checkout, according to the ordinance. <\/p>\n
As the ordinance will force outlets to either hire more people or cut the number of self-checkout kiosks, the California Grocers Assn. warned that consumers could end up facing longer lines and higher grocery prices. <\/p>\n
In response to the requirements, some Albertsons and Vons in Long Beach have closed their self-checkout lanes. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are currently unable to operate our self-checkout lanes … due to a new City of Long Beach ordinance,\u201d said a sign for customers at a Vons in downtown Long Beach.<\/p>\n
At a Target in Long Beach, five self-checkout stations were open and staffed by one employee. The store would need to add another employee to monitor self-checkout if it wanted to open more stations, according to the ordinance. <\/p>\n
Francilla Isaac, a shopper who lives in the area, said she has seen closed self-checkout lanes and longer lines around the city. <\/p>\n
\u201cI use it a lot when I\u2019m just here to get a few items,\u201d Isaac said of self-checkout. \u201cBut all the stores are the same now, they have it closed.\u201d <\/p>\n
Groups representing grocers and retailers such as Target and Walmart said the ordinance will increase labor costs for employers, leading to higher price tags on the shelf. It will also reduce sales in stores where self-checkout has closed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese efforts will ultimately damage self-checkout,\u201d said Nate Rose, a vice president at the California Grocers Assn. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing that worst-case scenario play out where a number of grocers have decided it\u2019s not worth it to keep the self-checkout lanes open.\u201d<\/p>\n
The California Retailers Assn. said retailers need freedom to decide on their own what is the most efficient way to deal with theft. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe problem with the Long Beach ordinance is that it\u2019s so constricting,\u201d said Rachel Michelin, president of the association. \u201cI think we\u2019re going to see unintended consequences.\u201d <\/p>\n
Union leader Bell said grocery companies oppose the ordinance because they don\u2019t want to hire more staff or increase their current staff\u2019s hours. While stores may want to avoid hiring more people amid regular increases in minimum wage, they may find that being forced to hire more people actually boosts sales and efficiency. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis should be better for the customers,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd it should actually improve profitability for the companies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lisa Adams comes to Long Beach from Utah every month with her husband to sail on their boat. She misses easy access to self-checkout and hopes it will return soon, but they understand the need to tamp down on theft in the city. <\/p>\n
She\u2019s witnessed the theft problem firsthand. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was chaotic and loud,\u201d she said. \u201cThis guy was pretending to ring his stuff up, and then he booked it for the door.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tired of rampant shoplifting scaring away citizens and shoppers, Long Beach is trying to force stores to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":462,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[830,836,828,831,131,133,132,834,212,827,832,835,825,833,829,826,238],"class_list":{"0":"post-461","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-long-beach","8":"tag-beachfront-city","9":"tag-california-grocers-assn","10":"tag-employee","11":"tag-item","12":"tag-long-beach","13":"tag-long-beach-headlines","14":"tag-long-beach-news","15":"tag-long-line","16":"tag-number","17":"tag-ordinance","18":"tag-pharmacy-retailer","19":"tag-rampant-shoplifting","20":"tag-self-checkout","21":"tag-self-checkout-lane","22":"tag-shopper-frustration","23":"tag-store","24":"tag-theft"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}