We will have four self-checking registers running on Sunday, or at least that's the schedule. Our assumption is that we'll need one checking assistant per register, at least for the training period. Then, as we checkers become more proficient we should be able to cut back to two assistants. But with our heavy tourist trade, I don't think we'll have any fewer than two assistants at least until fall, maybe not until winter.
I just hope that our store management recognizes that the checkers handling the self-checking registers will have to be the most patient, nicest people we have on staff. We have always prided ourselves on our interactions with the customers, making the store a place where the customers want to return.
Carol, our store manager for the eight years we've been open, has been fighting against this change for the entire eight years. She knows how important the human element can be in making a store work. However, she will be retiring sometime in the fall. I'm just glad that she's had the sense to have this change made while she's still in charge, so that she can oversee the change, rather than have it made by some newcomer who doesn't know the territory (a Rock Island reference).
