When you’re grabbing a few items at the grocery store, self-checkout lanes can be the quickest option for a fast exit, especially if the store is understaffed.
But at some Aldi stores, the self-checkout lane might be going away. Devoted shoppers around the country have been noticing lanes disappearing at their local stores and voiced their annoyance on Reddit. “It’s back to waiting 10-15 minutes since there’s always only one lane open. Does anyone know what happened and why?”
The online community chimed in, with some saying that their local store never had self-checkout lanes, while others said that their local Aldi still had them, but if they were removed, “I’ll be very disappointed,” one shopper wrote.
Many expressed concern that eliminating self-checkout lanes would increase wait times, especially if there were a shortage of cashiers. “My five-minute quick shop ballooned to 20 the other day because all the self-checkouts were gone and I was stuck behind customers loading up on a month’s worth of groceries at once,”
Many speculated that theft and loss of inventory were to blame for the checkout change, but according to an Aldi spokesperson, the removal of the lanes is part of an effort to “better address customer needs.”
