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Many grocery and drug stores have shut down self-checkout lanes, and some chains say they’re more wary of opening new locations in Long Beach since the city’s self-checkout staffing mandate took effect nearly one year ago, according to a city memo released Friday. 

The City Council approved an ordinance in September 2025 that requires at least one employee supervising for every three self-checkout stations in an effort to curb retail theft. Friday’s memo, addressed to City Manager Tom Modica, offers an early look at how the law is playing out by surveying 13 general managers and corporate representatives of stores affected by it. 

It doesn’t provide their raw responses but outlines their sentiments:

“In summary, 10 of 13 impacted establishments reported fully closing [self-checkout] lanes, while the remaining small minority of establishments severely or moderately restricted [self-checkout] options,” it says. “Several operators also noted that the ordinance has led to increased staffing presence and oversight at checkout areas, consistent with the ordinance’s intended objectives. At the same time, some retailers indicated that operational requirements are being factored into future location planning, including whether to expand additional stores within Long Beach.”  

Respondents said the biggest headache has been working through the complicated new rules. 

The law, for instance, bans certain locked or secured items from being purchased at self-checkout, a puzzle that’s pulled more staff over to intervene at the registers. Retailers also gripe about the law’s 15-item cap at self-checkout, which gets messy fast once you factor in individually counted produce and CRV fees stacking up as extra line items.

Customers are feeling it too, respondents say, saddled with longer lines and fewer lanes. Retailers, not surprisingly, also worried about the ordinance’s potentially costly structure for fining businesses under its rules for private right of action, which lets people sue over alleged violations. 

Labor groups have a different take. Representatives interviewed for the memo say the law has lightened the workload for their members, improved customer service and made stores safer. They’re pitching it as a blueprint other cities could follow, with Costa Mesa, Santa Ana, Anaheim, and West Hollywood all eyeing similar rules.

As a result, the city is receiving recommendations from businesses that it should clarify which items are allowed at self-checkout, review the rules around private right of action and reassess the 15-item limit, among other changes. Whether the City Council takes up any of those ideas is an open question.

Quick sips of the latest news

  • Libraries in limbo: As part of the 2027 budget season, the City Council on Tuesday will hear a presentation by the Parks, Recreation and Marine Department, followed by one from the Library, Arts and Culture Department. (One thing to anticipate: The city has already seen an upswell of public furor over its proposal to cut library hours and staff.) Another presentation will review how the city plans to spend the $7 to $8 million it hopes to get from the newly approved LA County Measure ER, a half-cent tax meant to fund public hospitals and health departments. For those interested, you can review Long Beach’s proposed 2027 budget here. 
  • Trade update: The Port of Long Beach logged its second-busiest July on record, moving 928,508 twenty-foot equivalent units last month as shippers rushed to beat the expiration of a temporary federal tariff, Port CEO Noel Hacegaba said Wednesday during a media briefing. The figure was down 1.7% from July 2025 but marked the seventh time in the port’s 115-year history that monthly volume topped 900,000 TEUs. The rush came ahead of the July 24 expiration of a 10% tariff the Trump administration imposed after the Supreme Court struck down its earlier tariffs; the administration replaced it the same day with new duties of 10% to 12.5% on imports from roughly 60 countries, covering nearly all U.S. imports. Hacegaba said he does not expect the new tariffs to significantly disrupt trade at the San Pedro Bay port complex. “This capped an early peak season as companies continued to navigate tariff uncertainty, higher fuel costs and other global issues,” Hacegaba said. “Our strong import numbers show that the supply chain continues to be resilient and adapting to this new normal.”
  • Even water is more expensive these days: The Long Beach Utilities Department is set to pass higher rates for sewer and water bills this week that will result in an average increase of $5.74 to people’s monthly bills. Increases are driven by inflation, officials say, as well as rising labor and material costs, aging infrastructure, and climate-related impacts. There is a profound need to fund necessary projects like the 32nd Street Booster Pump Station rehab, new groundwater wells at El Dorado Park and sewer force main replacements at the Marina ahead of the 2028 Olympics. Following a protest hearing on Aug. 27, the item will go before the City Council for a vote on Sept. 8. Rates, if approved, would take effect Oct. 1. Water would go up by 6% and sewer rates by 8%.
  • Construction loans: Long Beach Utilities wants to set up two revolving lines of credit with Wells Fargo to fund infrastructure work in its gas and sewer enterprise funds. The money, $60 million maximum for the gas fund and $45 million maximum for the sewer fund, would go toward pipeline replacement and other “critical facility needs” ahead of the 2028 Olympics. They’re proposed as 3-year terms, intended to be refinanced into long-term, fixed-rate bonds. If not refinanced, the sewer fund would have to repay the full drawn amount in the 2029 fiscal year.

ICYMI — California and national news

  • Long Beach expects its speed cameras to bring in $5 million a year. Here’s how it would be spent. (Long Beach Post)
  • Proposed California wealth tax sparks debate: Will billionaires leave the state? (NPR)
  • California lawmakers gut bill to require in-car breathalyzers (CalMatters)
  • 3 things to know about the $40 trillion federal debt (NPR)