Ah yes, let's blame some shadowy "big grocery" rather than point our fingers at individual bad actors.

Why deal with problem systems when we can punish someone we caught?

That is your thought process?

All grocery stores are introducing self-checkout as a way to reduce staffing. It's not a shadowy conspiracy, it's a legitimate fact. Many customers would much rather check out with a person.

Shadowy? Kroger's and Albertsons weren't allowed to merge due to anticompetitive practices, price hikes, etc. This was only a couple years ago & is out in the open. You can point all your fingers and toes at the boards of these companies if you need to.