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By Gwen Albers
New Castle News
Rose Marie Petrovitch avoids self-checkout stations at grocery stores.
"At my age it can be a little frustrating," the 86-year-old New Castle woman said while shopping at Union Township's Sparkle Market.
Petrovitch was happy to learn that Sparkle, including its store in the Westgate Plaza, has vowed not to phase out cashiers in favor of self-checkout kiosks.
Vincent Furrie Jr., president of the 18-store chain with locations in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, said in a recent Facebook post that having human cashiers benefits the company and the customer.
"Many big grocery brands have decided to phase out their cashiers and replace them with self-checkout machines," Furrier wrote. "They believe limiting human interaction is the future of retail shopping."
Self-checkouts allow customers to scan item barcodes before paying without needing one-to-one staff assistance. Used mainly in supermarkets, self-checkouts are not uncommon in department or convenience stores.
Sparkle's stance is good news for Kathy Skeen, a retired banker and part-time cashier at the local store.
"I think it's good that we'll be keeping our jobs," said Skeen.
The 67-year-old estimates that 75 percent of the store's shoppers are repeat customers.
"A lot come in daily to get out of the house," she said.
Retiree Kathy Moffatt of New Castle prefers checking out with a cashier.
"I've lost money at self-checkouts," Moffatt said while paying for her groceries at Sparkle. "They short changed me. I prefer a cashier."
Jeff Richards, manager for the local Sparkle, said the president of the chain believes the cashier-customer interaction is important.
"He also doesn't want to put people out of work," Richards said.
Most shoppers at the local Sparkle, which employs about 70, are repeat customers and elderly, he said.
"The older people don't like self-checkouts," Richards said.
According to a published report, in recent months Wegmans announced that it was pulling its self-checkout technology because of concerns over theft. Albertsons is redeploying self-checkout after an eight-year hiatus and Walmart wants to eventually have all cashier-less stores.
"In times like this, jobs are more important than ever, Furrie said. "We value the person at the register. We hope you do as well. Helping one another just cannot be replaced."
Sparkle Markets dates back to 1955, when four local independent grocers merged with an Akron, Ohio-area group of grocers, according to the company website. Throughout the years, store ownership has been passed from father to son to daughter.