Revolution in Some Supermarkets – What Will Change for Israelis

The supermarket chain 'Tiv Taam' has announced the complete elimination of traditional checkout counters and a transition to self-service zones due to an acute shortage of cashiers. The first pilot store will open in Ramat HaHayal, followed by changes in Haifa, Be'er Sheva, and other cities. The company also plans to open Asian food sections and is investing in logistics.

The supermarket chain 'Tiv Taam' has announced a radical restructuring: all traditional checkout counters will be eliminated, and customers will be moved to self-service zones. The reason is an acute shortage of cashiers: the company lacks at least a hundred employees. The first pilot store with the new system will open in Tel Aviv's Ramat HaHayal district in the coming months. Within a year, checkouts will be dismantled in stores in Haifa, Be'er Sheva, Netanya, Rishon LeZion, Rehovot, Ashdod, Pardes Hanna, and Herzliya, and then across the entire chain. CEO Hagai Shalom explained that out of 2,500 employees, about 200 have already arrived from Sri Lanka. Each remodeled store will retain two workers to assist customers and possibly a couple of regular checkouts for those unable to use the terminals. In the vacated space, Asian food sections 'Mizrach u-Ma'arav' will open in red-and-black design. The first such 'store within a store' will operate in Ramat HaHayal two months after acquiring the brand through the subsidiary Israco. Concurrently, 'Tiv Taam' is investing hundreds of millions of shekels in logistics: a new logistics center for Israco and a robotic complex for assembling online orders have been built. In Rishon LeZion, a second branch is opening in the 'Protea' complex at a cost of 6 million shekels, which will operate on Fridays and Saturdays.