Schnucks
Goes High-Tech with Digital Price Tags
By Cindy Teasdale
Schnucks
Markets is following a national trend by testing out a new high-tech
labeling system that could make everyone's shopping experience
a little easier. The "Electronic Shelf Labels," or digital price
tags, which look something like stop watches, are currently operational
in Schnucks' Affton and Ladue Crossing stores.
"We've
been following the technology for years," says Larry Maggio, director
of marketing services for Schnucks, "but finally decided it was
time to try out the system and see if the benefits would outweigh
the cost." The digital price tags allow for all price adjustments
to be made in one central computer system, "which assures further
accuracy and saves an immeasurable amount of time," Maggio reports.
Schnucks
is the first store in the region to experiment with the digital
price tags, produced by Electronic Retailing Systems International
out of Norwalk Conn., but Maggio feels certain that in the coming
years most grocers will move toward similar systems. The digital
price tags also display price per ounce and the cost saved on
sale items, and let the central computer know when an item has
run out on the shelf.
"With
the combination of low unemployment rates and the high cost of
labor, this switch really may prove beneficial to both the company
and our customers in the near future," Maggio says. Schnucks also
leads the on-line shopping and delivery race through their "Express
Connection" Web Site, now in operation more than two years.
Gaining
Time by Eating In
By Cindy Teasdale
Has
the boss been spending lunch time with her computer instead of
her clients? She's not the only one. According to a recent survey
conducted by Office Team, a national staffing service, 19 percent
of respondents reported working through lunch everyday, and a
total of 62 percent admitted they work through lunch at least
once a week.
And
whether for health or time management reasons, it's not just the
neophytes; some of St. Louis' biggest players can more frequently
be found munching their lunches at their desks rather than out
and about.
"I've
brought my lunch from home everyday since April of 1960," reports
A.G. Edwards & Sons' Al Goldman. As the firm's chief market
strategist, Goldman must be on-hand at all times to react to any
activity in the market, "and since we have branches in every single
time zone, that doesn't leave much room for me to wander down
to the cafeteria."
Goldman
isn't complaining though: "I used to get the royal treatment;
my wife would make me a 'Dagwood Bumstead' sandwich stuffed with
everything you're not supposed to have. Now I'll get something
like a boneless, skinless chicken breast on a bagel with raw carrots
and an apple. My cholesterol may be down but my taste buds are
out."
Richard
Scherrer, managing partner at Armstrong Teasdale LLP, is also
a three to four days a week brown-bagger, and he too admits that
it meets both his health and work demands. "If I dined out every
day the way many people downtown do, it would be very tough to
keep up with my health. This way I can ensure that I'm following
my diet."
But
Scherrer's primary reason for staying in the office is also to
get work done. "In the old days I often found that it was hard
to regain the momentum I held in the morning after a big meal
out." When asked whether he ever relaxes over the lunch hour,
Scherrer admits that "the most frivolous thing I'll do is check
out CNN's Web Site, but I usually don't have time for that."
Cindy
Teasdale is a St. Louis-based free-lance writer.
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