Tuesday's Rant: Target's Self-Checkouts Not Open at Peak Times

On Tuesdays I sometimes take the opportunity to rant about something I do not like about Target… because although I love ‘em to death, they ain’t perfect. I haven't done a 'rant' in quite a while, but this one's been building up and I can't hold my tongue any longer.

Can anyone tell me WHY Target bothers to have 'self-checkout' stations, but doesn't open them during peak shopping times? At my local store, this most frequently happens in the mornings, before 10am. There could be lines for days at all the other lanes, but they won't open up the self-checkout ones. When I've asked - aka, complained - about this before, the standard answer I get is that they are "short staffed": meaning, they don't have a dedicated person available to man the self-checkouts in case a shopper gets stuck or has questions. My response to this is that it'd make more sense to close ONE of the regular lanes to have that clerk supervise the 4 self-checkout ones.

Anyhow, yesterday I had enough.... with all lanes full with overflowing carts (note to self: lots of moms with babies seem to shop on Monday mornings!) I left the handful of items I'd wanted to buy on an endcap. Had the self-checkout lands been open, I would have gladly used them (as much as I loathe them) but after waiting 10 minutes in vain, I bailed.