That Whole Foods in Austin felt off the second I walked in

I was visiting my sister in Austin last month and stopped by the Whole Foods on Lamar. There were three separate security guards just standing in the produce aisle watching everyone like hawks. I get theft is a problem but it felt more like they were tracking patterns or something. Has anyone else noticed weird vibes at specific grocery chains getting heavy with security lately?

2 comments

2 Comments

barbaraschmidt4d ago

Yeah same thing happened to me at a Kroger near my place last week. There were two guards following this old guy just buying bananas and milk, like seriously? I saw them eyeing a teenager grabbing a bag of chips and they literally circled back around the aisle to watch him. It's way more intense than it used to be, feels less like stopping theft and more like they're profiling everyone who walks in. Another time I counted four employees just standing at the exits staring at people's carts, not even pretending to help anyone. It honestly makes me not want to go back, which is wild for a grocery store.

hart.parker3d ago

Heard a podcast recently talking about how some stores are using security as a data collection thing, watching how people move through aisles to tweak product placement. Kinda tracks with what @barbaraschmidt said about them not even pretending to help.