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Whole Foods
1 year ago
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49. Whole Foods
1 year ago
After work yesterday I tagged along with Zach and Courtney while they did a little grocery shopping at the Whole Foods in Union Square.
They have a really elaborate system for managing the lines. There is a massive bay of check out counters, each with it's own illuminated number above it. Rather then lining up at a a specific counter, you pick a color coded line to wait in. Then this big TV assigns the next available counter to each row in turn. The lit sign at the available counter blinks so that you can find it easily when you are called up. Does this make any sense?
Maybe I'm the only one who hasn't seen something like this before. It made me a feel a bit like livestock, but it's really pretty clever. There were at least 10 billion people there so they definitely needed to get creative with line management.
They have a really elaborate system for managing the lines. There is a massive bay of check out counters, each with it's own illuminated number above it. Rather then lining up at a a specific counter, you pick a color coded line to wait in. Then this big TV assigns the next available counter to each row in turn. The lit sign at the available counter blinks so that you can find it easily when you are called up. Does this make any sense?
Maybe I'm the only one who hasn't seen something like this before. It made me a feel a bit like livestock, but it's really pretty clever. There were at least 10 billion people there so they definitely needed to get creative with line management.
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Zach and Courtney made me dinner last night!
:-)
i can not comprehend this situation
skratces skull and thumb to temple
i'ld probably just end up sitting on the floor
until there was no one left at closing time and then i would get up and check out.
:(
Trader Joe's might still have a human.
duplo
New York City
If there´s so much business, they should employ more people!
I would´t go shopping there. I wanna buy not be leaded by such electronic thingi.
-german opinion-
From your opinion it sounds like you wouldn't like it there, period. :-)
Thanks for pointing me to this
Wow, new york is getting more and more impersonal daily.
That's a very intuitive system though.
Whole Foods here in Louisville is extremely personal. I should go there with my camera and show ya'll how extremely personal they are.
Like seriously, the people stocking the shelves will help you find new and tasty products, and even give you some for free if you're not sure if you'd like it. Everyone is an expert in their area, especially in the wine store.
Very different, even, from whole foods in Philadelphia-- there it's an impersonal experience, but not enough people to warrant a human to separate the lines, nor an intricate technological breakthrough to organize the people waiting.
Anyway, a Whole Foods employee got really upset and I wasnt in the mood to argue - so, no video...