idrinkcheapbeer
18406
272
20
https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/sf-grocery-store-installed-security-measures-21138800.php
Nov 7, 2025 1:08 AM
idrinkcheapbeer
18406
272
20
https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/sf-grocery-store-installed-security-measures-21138800.php
eromitlab
Damn, Safeway fuckin' up.
cousteau
If I go to a supermarket to buy a specific thing or list of things and they don't have any of them, I'm already gonna be angry enough for them to force me to buy something I don't want. And if you force me to I'm buying the cheapest thing I can find, and then try to return it.
GRizz46
Wait wait wait, why are people complaining? Free room and board... SIGN ME UP.
sirbartonslady
"The poors shouldn't be allowed anywhere in society. eww. Go away."
rbudrick
Yeah, I mean, I'm spending 800 a month in groceries. They'd lose a lot of revenue just by a small percentage shopping elsewhere.
mako925
Honestly sounds like a great time to fill the store with non-paying customers until it reaches the occupancy limit, them call the fire department. I'm sure they'll reverse this decision after a few fines, no sales and large mobs.
thanatos777
There won't be any fines, the piece of shit pig motherfuckers will just tear gas and arrest the people in the store. The system is there to protect capital, not to protect you.
satsukeshi
Dude. They said fire department, not police.
PotatoPirateTheThird
or call the fire department without all the effort. "they lock their front door so you can't leave." i'm sure it runs a foul of fire codes
graehall
that doesn't seem a safe way to run a business
ISayShenanigans
I'd just make myself at home.
GreenMnM
So basically the price for everything skyrockets, people steal food (no they didnt) and now Safeway is trying to combat the theft that is happening (no it isnt) by installing gates that only open when you scan your receipt.
More capitalist bullshit
How much did those systems cost? For how many stores? Including install/laboretc... just make groceries cheaper by that amount and people will steal less. Its not perfect but it isnt evil either
seenunseen
Certainly isn't. I'm sure you can get an employee to open it for you, but i'd stop shopping there anyways
mikeatike
The fire exit had better work.
eromitlab
With the way corporate has been staffing retail lately, good luck finding an employee.
ByThePowerOfSCIENCE
Yep. From the Reddit post that started this:
«I sheepishly asked a nearby employee "how do I leave" and they asked "did you buy anything" and I said no, they jokingly told for me to put my hands up and eventually fobbed me out the glass door.»
livingonagiantfireball
There is always emergency exit, its the law.
LuIu
Good thing corporations always follow the law.
I've seen plenty of emergency exits at grocery stores blocked or even chained shut.
livingonagiantfireball
I have not in canada
Johannason
Unsafeway.
Metalsmith21
You just shout open the fucking door. If it doesn't open fast enough kick it the fuck down or pull the fire alarm. Automatic locking doors are supposed to open in a fire alarm. When questioned you just say they wouldn't unlock the doors for me. The fire chief will be on your side.
TheOldSchoolisBack
Automatic doors sliding doors will generally swing open if pushed. It’s a mandatory safety feature in public establishments.
OmenJones
mikeatike
Read the article and it doesnt even mention fire safety. How could a fire marshal even allow this? I assume the lazy article writer didnt bother to ask.
66gent
I’m sure that won’t cause you to lose customers Mr/Mrs/Ms Brilliant MBA Person who came up with this.
kwyjjibo
Bordering on false imprisonment if you have to beg security to let you out.
mephiston
shit on their customer service desk.
makesense
No....it doesn't say you can't get out without buying something. You just have to take the time to get a guard's attention to let you. It's stupid, but it isn't unlawful confinement.
PineappleLoopsBroether
I’m gonna go to the market street location to see if this is even happening. I seriously doubt it.
yosoysoyboy
How does this even affect the majority of shoplifters? Don't they generally buy something, even as they hide more expensive items?
imback
It's a grocery store. Fill a buggy with meat. Roll up to the checkout. Reach over for a pack of gum. Leave the buggy behind you. Pay for the gum and leave. The employees can restock the buggy full of meat.
RetiredLaserMan
I don't think they can actually restock the meat, they can't at my local Publix in Georgia. So you load up a few hundred $ worth of meat like that and it all goes in the trash... hmmmmm, maybe you've got something here!
RetiredLaserMan
I just checked - they can't legally restock the meat because it must be in a controlled environment and if it's in a cart they have no way of knowing how long it's been out. I think Safeway just fucked up and it will cost them!
wadatahmydamie
Don’t punish workers for decisions made by owners
DrHenryJones
So...what if they don't have what I'm looking for? That's gonna be a fun one.
FrankRizzo55
You just leave. It's that simple.
Snooj
It's not illegal for consumer reasons, it's illegal for fire code reasons. No way shit like that can stay up for long. The article also says the entrace gates trigger an alarm if someone back out. I'd go there three times a day just to trigger the alarm.
XXXSpork
Yeah I would kool aid man my way out
wobblecopterrrr
fun fast;! you can shatter tempered windows with something kinda a
hard and pointy, a flipper knife works, you have to hit it extra HARD..
MySushi
Follow-up fun fact, aim for the edges and corners, where they are more vulnerable. Protect your hands and face by using a makeshift "king of all armaments" to put some distance between yourself and the inevitable fallout
wobblecopterrrr
I swear.. I had dreams about this comment.. yeah, aim for the corners, and pull your shirt up,
coyotebob00
A store manager/security guard attempting to enforce an obviously illegal policy works even better. Load them in a cart and roll them into the gates as many times as it takes. If they try and complain, well then, there are lots of canned goods on the shelves. Make of that fact what you will.
wobblecopterrrr
i laughed waay too long at this image..
TheUnstoppableWampas
What, are the security guards going to stop you? They're not legally allow to do anything. Do They have cops outside the store?
ByThePowerOfSCIENCE
they open the gate when you approach - the title is clickbait
BeesechurgerProductions
The article literally mentions having to "beg the security guards" to open them if you don't have a receipt.
ByThePowerOfSCIENCE
You tell the guard you didn't buy anything - they open the gate. The "begging" is hyperbole for engagement.
AntaNce
This is just rage bait.
PineappleLoopsBroether
Yeah this is trash, I’ll literally go to every Safeway in SF and take video to prove this is not true. 10 years ago they used to have receipt checkers, and I snubbed them every time because that’s not lawful…. This just isn’t happening.
AntaNce
I shop Safeway a lot, different stores around my rural area with little to choose from. It ain't great, but it is certainly not protected by ruffian enforcers. I fukken hate this timeline. I will look forward to your videos. I have never been receipt-checked at a Safeway. They have work to do.
CakeIsALie227
Emergency exits ftw
cousteau
Normally when you open an emergency exit, an alarm gets triggered, and it probably causes a lot of trouble for the store owners. I second this idea.
CakeIsALie227
Yeah in this situation as a person wanting to leave and not wanting to buy anything it would be classified as 100% not my fuckn problem
DarkDesertHighway
Ffs if y’all read the actual article, it’s only if you want to go back out the front gate. If you through the checkout line area like normal, you can exit just fine. It’s just forcing a specific flow of traffic, really isn’t anything new. This is just rage bait.
FrankRizzo55
Correct. My Safeway did this over a year ago. You're blocked from exiting through the entrance and you're blocked from leaving the self check out without scanning a receipt. You're free to walk around any of these minor barriers and exit and if someone tries to stop you, you can start gathering evidence for your lawsuit.
mikeatike
Still a fire safety violaion.
RufusPimperton
You really think somebody would do that? Just go on the Internet and phrase things in the most incendiary way possible, just to get attention, views and clicks‽
ConfusedConda
The comment is not true. They didn't read the article carefully. It has a gate at the entrance AND the exit.
DarkDesertHighway
“During my Monday visit, I purchased a kombucha and went through the check-out line without incident. (No high-tech gates block the exit if you go through the line like normal.)”
idrinkcheapbeer
"And if you walk into Safeway and change your mind about grocery shopping, you might find yourself trapped: Another gate that only opens if you scan your receipt blocks the store’s sole exit. "
FrankRizzo55
100% not trapped. Just blocked. It is indeed rage bait.
idrinkcheapbeer
Who is raging? The only people raging are the ones raging about this being "rage bait"
DarkDesertHighway
“During my Monday visit, I purchased a kombucha and went through the check-out line without incident. (No high-tech gates block the exit if you go through the line like normal.)”
ConfusedConda
YOU might want to go read the article. It has a gate at the entrance AND the exit. You have to scan your receipt to get the gate to open.
FrankRizzo55
My Safeway did this over a year ago. You're blocked from exiting through the entrance and you're blocked from leaving the self check out without scanning a receipt. No one is trapped. You're free to walk around any of these minor barriers and exit and if someone tries to stop you, you can start gathering evidence for your lawsuit.
DarkDesertHighway
Reading comprehension is hard apparently lol. It clearly says self-checkout area so many times and the entire subtext is directly related to self checkouts.
FrankRizzo55
Yeah, some third rate website that wants clicks Says something so it must be true.
DarkDesertHighway
“During my Monday visit, I purchased a kombucha and went through the check-out line without incident. (No high-tech gates block the exit if you go through the line like normal.)”
larndt31411
Been to one of those, and it's not as dramatic as it appears. Ultimately I don't like it and avoid the store mostly
ConfusedConda
Just posting that it isn't that dramatic is not telling us anything. Describe how it is not as dramatic as it appears. Seriously, I want to know. But your comment is just frustrating and wasting my time.
ConfusedConda
I just read the article, and it has a gate at the entrance AND the exit. You have to scan your receipt to get it to open. OR, call security to get them to open it.
larndt31411
At least in this area, every store that has self checkout has an employee sitting there, so if I'm not buying anything, I walk past the self checkout kiosks and tell them to open up. It's annoying, and sometimes wastes 30s, but not the end of the world
PballQhead
Hi, I live in DC where they've been doing this for a couple of years. There's a gate after the checkout, you scan your receipt to open it. If you don't have a receipt, you ask the security guard who's standing by the gate to open it for you. Not very dramatic, IMO.
They can search your bag (they do have the right to do that, it's posted at the entrance), but it's never happened to me.
ConfusedConda
Thanks!
xeoxion
Unlawful confinement. Full within your rights to kick down the door and walk out.
Done it on a job first night when they locked the staff in till morning. Quit. Kicked thru the glass and left. Nothing happened to me.
FlintNorth44
Had me agreeing until the glass bit.
fartharder
You'd have just sat there waiting for your jailer to return?
FlintNorth44
It's a bullshit story...
georgejimmydoodle
Make the bullshit too expensive to maintain.
AnonymousSourceOfGenitals
The Triangle Shirt Waist Factory fire is the reason stuff like that is illegal
PrincessWasabi
Good for you, seriously ! Pressure can incapacitate, sounds like you’ll be safe for life
NightOwlRally
https://media4.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1Z2kwMHkxZDl2cW84aHg1dnVvaGFhOHZtZjN5b2pmc2NuajJqOTVjcyZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/yUI3a7RwLhOFy/200w.webp
bikergeek6249
It's kind of buried in the text but if you RTFA you can get a security guard to let you out. Of course how difficult it is to find one, we can only guess.
HandoB4Javert
wobblecopterrrr
hell yeah
kindpanda
Just standing near a doorway in an imposing manner is false imprisonment in my state. If I reasonably believe you're preventing me from leaving (without my having committed a crime and you're a police officer), I have every legal right to use force to leave
makesense
Your first part is incorrect in this instance.
Your second was fully okay to do.
Lutki
When I worked at home Depot as a overnight stalker they would lock us in all night and only open the doors to let people leave after everyone finished their section
bigheadface
yeah, and that's illegal in the US.
gaggedandgooped
Stocker? Stocker.
Lutki
Oops, been playing too much call of pripyat. Lol
Fairemont
Uh huh. A likely story.
horsetuna
Why did they lock you in?
YapYapDaGrunt
Late stage capitalism?
GeorgeCostabaplaps
Slavery is my first guess
InkyBlinkyPinkyAndClyde
It's to stop shoplifting. You can go through the checkout lane to get out, though, there's no gate there according to the article.
horsetuna
No I meant this commenter who said they locked staff in overnight
InkyBlinkyPinkyAndClyde
Oh dang, i misread their comment. Yeah now I'm curious too!
ImgursLibertarian
Probably more to keep the animatronic band inside.
horsetuna
I'm legit curious. I worked overnights and they lock the doors for security purposes but if we needed to leave (smoke break etc) we could still do so just had to get someone to get the door for is
meowingintensifies
they do get a bit... quirky at night.
ByThePowerOfSCIENCE
don't worry, it's clickbait; they ask the guard at the gate and they let you out (still inconvenient)
«But if, like this person on the San Francisco subreddit recounted, I hadn’t bought anything, my only means of exit would have been to beg the security guard to let me out»
Hevach
This is still illegal. Harbor Freight settled a lawsuit over this because they started testing automatic locks that need an employee override after closing time. Word got out and they had professional plaintiffs with tedious orders fill the test stores at 8:45.
putcleverusernamehere
Still have doubts about fire regulations
ByThePowerOfSCIENCE
the article shows waist-high glass doors that shatter with a strong push - no worse than a turnstile
also the main entrance is never the only exit in case of fire
Hevach
Emergency exits cannot break when used. They can be alarmed but not frangible.