Scales at the grocery store

I apologize if this has been asked before but I was unable to locate a thread on the subject. I also could not find anything on google.

Why do grocery stores have large scales located at the front? I have never seen them used for anything more than customers weighing themselves. I initially thought maybe they used it a long time ago and they just left it in the store but I have seen them in new markets. So does anyone know if they are actually used or just a traditional decoration?

Are you talking about the scales that you pay a quarter and weigh yourself, pezzie?

Nope. I am talking about the LARGE scales that are free.

I don’t recall seeing these in grocery stores I go to regularly. Perhaps it is restricted to your region / state. Maybe some left over law on the codebooks requires grocery stores to have giant free novelty scales available at all times in your region / state.

Actually in Florida it would not suprise me
Probably for the carnies to try guessing each others weight. :smiley:

Most digital scales these days only go up to 30#. We still have one of those big scales around for a few reasons: It can weigh items much heavier then 30#, it heavy and hard to move, it wouldn’t seem right to throw away a perfectly good scale just cuz we don’t use it (although we are packrats like you wouldn’t believe, our storage areas are giant fire hazards I would imagine).

That’s awesome JoeyP. Thanks for the answer. I figured that they weren’t used much and just became decorations but wasn’t sure.

I have no idea what scales you’re talking about, but that won’t stop me from throwing out theories.

Perhaps it is used to weigh big-bulk items – ice, rock salt, charcoal, firewood, potatos, grasseed, animal/pet feed, coffee beans – that is sold by the pound. They probably keep it up front so it is near the check-out registers.

Another possibility is that the scale is used when stock comes IN the store, not when it goes out. Maybe the coffee bean man wheels in a sack o’ beans and the manager throws it on the scale so he knows that the sack does in fact weigh, say, 50 pounds.

There you go. My two theories.

My dad lives in Florida, so I’ve seen these scales at Publix.

I’m not sure whether you saw them at that chain or at another chain, but they appear to be a Publix tradition.

The following link discusses it in brief:

Health and Safety? You (an employer, not shopper) can’t lift such and such without using a mechanical device.

I’ve seen them in a few stores around here. I think they go up to 250 pounds. I’ve occasionally seen kids playing on them or weighing themselves. They’re always located near the store exit, after the registers.

Bit of a zombie, but I’m used to seeing them* all the time. To be fair, I do live in Publix territory, so I can’t comment if it’s a regional thing.

I’ve used them to weigh luggage before a friend of mine went on an international trip.

*scales. Although zombies works for that sentence too.

Zombie or not, anyone care to link to a picture? I’m curious as heck, now.

Click on the link in stabberwocky’s post.

Or more images here.

Toledo scale, model 2181 or variant.

Properly tended, they last forever (may need to occasionally change springs, pivots, or bearings, depending upon how hard it’s being used).

No longer in production, but some components are still available for them.

Plenty of people still use them, even certified legal-for-trade.

Not sure why Publix has them, or sticks them right up front; perhaps an image/publicity thing?

I can’t recall ever seeing anything like this here in the upper Midwest, although we don’t have Publix stores in this area.

Anecdote: I used to volunteer at a Habitat ReStore, and we weighed all donations to fulfill a grant; one stipulation was that we had to divert a certain amount of weight from the landfill. It was an old doctor’s scale, and women would back away from it like it would spontaneously weigh her, but men and children enthusiastically stepped on it. I’ll never forget the man who climbed on it with his boots, Carhartt jacket, tool belt, etc. and slid the weights over and announced, “246 pounds!” :dubious:

Thanks for the link.

I’ve never seen anything like that before, and I’ve shopped in a Publix.

Well, yeah, I’ve seen a scale before. You know what I’m saying.

Our local Publix all have one. Why remains a mystery to me.

For the record, I’ve seen them in several stores around here. Not Publix, since they’re not here.

They need to put them in the middle of the candy aisle, not in front.