BEFORE WE CAN TRULY UNDERSTAND THE EVOLUTION OF THE CASHIER WE HAVE TO FIRST UNDERSTAND THE EVOLUTION OF THE MODERN STORE. BEFORE SUPERMARKETS WERE POPULARIZED YOU WOULD HAVE TO TRAVEL TO SPECIALTY STORES FOR YOUR EVERYDAY PRODUCTS. SINCE THE AVERAGE STORE OWNER WOULD ONLY HAVE TO SERVE PATRONS HERE AND THERE THEY NORMALLY DIDN’T REQUIRE ANYTHING MORE THAN ONE OR TWO EMPLOYEES TOTAL.

1. IN A STUDY DONE BY CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY , KENNETH W. ROSE FOUND THAT IN THE 5,358 STORES IN CLEVELAND,OHIO ONLY 8,410 PEOPLE WERE EMPLOYED IN 1929. WHICH EQUATES TO ABOUT 1.5 EMPLOYEES PER LOCATION.

CONSUMERS WOULD TYPICALLY GO FROM STORE TO STORE TO GATHER WHAT THEY NEEDED BEFORE HEADING HOME. FOR PERSPECTIVE IF YOU WANTED TO MAKE A SANDWICH YOU WOULD GO TO THE BUTCHER FOR THE MEAT, THE BAKERY FOR YOUR BREAD, A GREENGROCER FOR VEGETABLES, AND THEN A GENERAL STORE FOR ANYTHING ELSE.

FAST FORWARD TO 2026 AND YOU CAN DRIVE 5 MINUTES DOWN THE ROAD AND GET EVERYTHING AT YOUR LOCAL TARGET.

2. ACCORDING TO TARGETS WEBSITE THEY CURRENTLY HAVE OVER 1,929 LOCATIONS WITH OVER 400,000 EMPLOYEES.

THAT IS A LITTLE OVER 200 EMPLOYEES PER LOCATION. WHICH IS MORE THAN 134 TIMES THE AMOUNT OF EMPLOYEES IN CLEVELAND, OHIO LESS THAN 100 YEARS AGO.

OBVIOUSLY WE ARE COMPARING ONE MAJOR CITY VS A HUGE CORPORATION BUT IT HELPS CREATE AN ACCURATE ENOUGH REPRESENTATION FOR OUR PURPOSES. THAT PURPOSE BEING HOW MUCH STORES HAVE GROWN OVER THE YEARS