What started as an online joke about Walmart may become one of the big holiday events of the season in Lacey, New Jersey.
Lacey resident Drew Delgado posted on Facebook last month about an event he called the “Walmart Self-Checkout Christmas Party” at the nearby Lanoka Harbor store. “What to expect,” Delgado posted a tongue-in-cheek explanation of the party’s plans. “Actual employees celebrate a successful year by simply standing around and checking their receipts to pick, pay for, and bag their own groceries.”
Delgado, who describes herself as “a bit of a prankster,” wasn’t serious about the party, but more than 21,000 people later expressed interest. Unfortunately, some people announced their absence. One man wrote in the comments that he had to attend a Target self-checkout party that same night.
“And I thought, ‘Wow, this is a lot bigger than I expected.’ So I thought, why not do something with this?” Delgado said. .
After the event started going viral on Facebook, Delgado said she received a call from the manager of the Lanoka Harbor store who told her that while the “self-checkout Christmas party” was fun, Walmart wasn’t interested in hosting it. Told.
“That being said, we agreed that it would be great if we could make this something positive for families in need,” Delgado wrote in another post about her interaction with the store.
Instead of gathering at Walmart, Delgado asked people to come to the Elks Lodge in Lacey on Dec. 15 and bring toys to donate to families in need. Lodge also participated, sharing a post on Facebook promoting the toy drive. “It should be a great night for all the right reasons,” Lodge posted.
“This is a tough time for everyone right now, and it’s not getting any easier,” Delgado said. So I said, ‘Why don’t we do something together, we can help other people. ”
(Delgado posted on the event page that he had found another opportunity to “throw a big party at Walmart.”)
Self-checkout systems at major retailers have exploded in popularity over the past decade, but some companies are starting to reconsider how much they use them. That includes Walmart, which recently eliminated self-checkout lanes at three stores in New Mexico, Business Insider reports.
One reason why the self-checkout boom is starting to slow down is the rise in shoplifting. A 2016 study of U.S. and European retailers found that businesses using self-checkout had a loss rate of about 4%, more than double the industry average.
All jokes aside, Delgado said he doesn’t want self-checkout at his local Walmart to go away. “I prefer that, personally,” he said.
Walmart’s corporate office did not respond to a request for comment.