Kevin Smartt, CEO and president of TXB Stores, says that strategic store design can save time and labor for employees.
TXB employees have transitioned their focus by doing less sweeping and mopping, says Smartt, because of the store’s new floor mats that are laid into the concrete and bolted down. The recessed mats prevent a trip hazard and prevent dirt from being tracked throughout the store.
“From a labor-saving standpoint, all our employee has to do is come up and vacuum out the dirt because it settles down into the recessed area,” Smartt said during a workshop at the 2022 NACS Show. “And then the strips that go across—when they wear out—they are Velcro, and you can just peel up and put another one down.”
Additionally, along with stocking more-than-enough cups at the dispensed beverage station, holes in the countertops catch pucks, or disks of coffee ground residue, from the coffee machines.
“This allows us to run pretty much all through the peak time of morning without having to focus on being over there at the coffee bar having to empty those pucks,” he said.
Food lockers are another new feature at TXB that gives time back to employees. Customers picking up food from a mobile-app order can punch a code into the locker for a grab-and-go experience.