Scan As You Go Hits Stop & Shop
This isn’t a new story for grocer Stop & Shop, but it’s new for Norwalk, CT (and hopefully you won’t have to pay to read this story): Scan-as-you-go technology. You pick up a gun when you enter the store, you scan and bag your items, then you pay at a kiosk. Alleged convenience!
But it does remind me… what ever happened to The Epicenter Collection?
Remember? These guys were going to use vacant anchor space to offer traditional catalogers a mall presence? Only in most cases, you couldn’t take home a purchased item on the same day. So instead of buying an item online from, say, One Step Ahead, you could touch and feel the item before ordering it and waiting for a shipment.
The Epicenter Collection was supposed to open in 2006 in Columbus, OH. Then in 1Q 2008 at Christiana Mall in Delaware. Heck, the powers-that-be made a convincing Jetson-esque presentation at Direct Media’s co-op in April 2007, but no one seemed to be biting.
Maybe we’ll chalk this one up as something that seemed ahead of its time, but in reality was two steps behind.