Tops Super Foods: An NCR Case Study

When Tops Super Foods, a family-owned grocery store located in the historic Gold Rush town of Weaverville, Calif., decided to upgrade its checkout stations as part of a store remodel, they chose to take their in-store technology to the next level.

Established in 1961, Tops Super Foods is owned by Dean Ryan and his brothers, and is managed by Dean’s wife, Renie. As a long-time customer of NCR, the Ryans decided to work with John Creamer, president of SNCR California, an NCR reseller, to add four NCR SelfServ™ Checkout self-checkout lanes, and upgrade five employee-manned stations with the NCR RealPOS™ 80XRT pointof-sale (POS) solution. Most shoppers may not expect to find this type of advanced technology in a small grocery store. However, according to Creamer, Dean was quick to consider selfcheckout technology as a way to better serve his customers. “Many of the big chains have enjoyed the benefits of self-checkout for some time,” said Creamer.

“Consumers are increasingly drawn to grocers that provide self-checkout for added convenience, and Dean felt it was something he wanted to offer to his customers.” Tops’ Weaverville location is known as a tourist spot, with many visitors coming during the summer from the urban San Francisco Bay area. Because self-checkout technology is something most tourists are already accustomed to, shopping at Tops allows them to enjoy the “comforts of home” while on vacation. “Self-checkout is convenient for vacationers, as well as our regular customers, who come in and want to purchase a few items; they don’t have to wait in line behind someone with a cart full of groceries,” said Renie.

When Tops’ employees were told that self-checkout lanes were being added, some were initially concerned that jobs would be cut. But the Ryans assured them that the self-checkout lanes were designed to help boost employee productivity, rather than cut their work force. “Many employees were afraid they would be out of a job,” Creamer said. “But that didn’t happen. Instead they were trained to help customers who were new to selfcheckout, and Tops always has one attendant on duty to manage the self-checkout lanes.”

Renie added, “There are some shoppers that are hesitant at first, however most are receptive simply because of the convenience. Someone new comes in every day that has not used this technology before, and it is so nice to have an employee there to offer a demonstration, especially during busy times when there are long lines and they only have a few items.”

The Ryans, with Creamer’s guidance, also chose the NCR RealPOS 80XRT POS solution because of its speed and accuracy. Flexibility was also key. The NCR RealPOS 80XRT allows the Ryans to easily add on peripherals, such as printers and display units, without adding any additional data ports. “Dean didn’t need to add multiple power ports,” Creamer said. “Everything conveniently runs off one data cable.”

According to Renie, when the Ryans first considered an upgrade to their checkout technology, they analyzed several systems. But it was the NCR family of products that stood out. Their past experiences with SNCR and the responsive attention from Creamer and his staff were also major factors. “We really felt the NCR products were the way to go with this upgrade,” Renie said. “We’ve always had a good experience with their POS solutions, and wanted to stay with NCR and SNCR. We are in a remote area, and even though SNCR is located about four hours away, John Creamer and his team have always been great about getting to us in times when we needed them the most.”