[plondon514]

Exactly, In my local pharmacy in NYC there is no attendant specifically for the self-checkouts, it's usually someone floating around or the same person doing manual checkout. In Japan the person is very present, willing to help, and says thank you very much, which also prompts me to say thank you in return.

[galaxyLogic]

But in Trader Joe employees are curiously happy, and it seems genuine. I wonder why that is? Some other grocery stores nearby employees are grumpy. Why?

[Workaccount2]

Trader Joe's has narrow selection, leverages economies of scale for relabeling, does it's own distribution, and forgoes any form of ready made/ready prepared foods (instead leaning on a large frozen meal selection).

I love trader joes, don't get me wrong, but I wouldn't be happy if it was the only grocery store I had access to. For me it's an awesome second-in-line grocery store, more like a specialty grocery than a main grocery.

[lotsofpulp]

My theory is the mid scale full service grocery stores with huge footprints and multiple specialized departments is on the way out.

They are stuck with expensive legacy union employee contracts, while smaller and more efficient operations like TJs and Aldi and Lidl and Costco and Walmart and Winco eat all the consistent low margin sales, leaving the big grocery stores with only volatile high margin sales.

People per household has been trending down for a long time, which also impacts the amount/variety of cooking.