[Ghoulish Delight]

It hasn't been so much about size and stocking, it's about the employees. At best, they're chatting with their friends when they should be helping customers ("No, for the third time, I want a half pound of roast beef.") and at worst they are talking sh!t with each other about their coworkers within easy earshot of customers. They are unfriendly and unhelpful. And it's been consistent between two different Ralphs I go to regularly. When we mentioned it to CP's brother he said, "Yup, that's what it was like at the one I worked at too," and made a good case that it has a lot to do with the company's policies (or lack their of) on training and how they treat their employees. Once he was there for some time and his coworkers could tell that he wasn't an idiot, all of the long-termers warned him to get the hell out while he still can.

Many Ralph's have self checkout too, but the system is inferior to Albertsons'. It's a little buggy, less intuitive, and requires a lot more intervention from employees (something I would rather avoid at Ralphs. See above), and innevitably at every Ralphs I've been to that has one, it's roped off and shut down a good portion of the time because it doesn't help anyone.