A seemingly ordinary supermarket snap has sparked a wave of nostalgia across Australia, after shoppers realised one Woolworths store has quietly resisted a feature now found almost everywhere else.
The image, taken at the Acacia Ridge store in Brisbane, shows the supermarket’s checkout area looking as though it has been frozen in time, complete with only staffed registers – and no self-serve options.
The photo, posted on Reddit, quickly gained traction as Aussies marvelled at what many described as a blast from the early 2000s, long before self-serve checkouts became the norm.
‘Man that express lane is taking me back to 2007,’ one wrote.
Another said the store felt like ‘stepping through a time warp.’
‘That’s early 2000s era Woolies design. Only thing missing is all the staff wearing business attire with red and green ties.’
Others were quick to praise the simplicity of the old-school layout, with one user declaring: ‘Good old school service, wish there were more like them.’
But the viral moment also reignited a familiar debate among shoppers as they reflected on the pros and cons of self-serve versus staffed checkouts.
The inside of a Brisbane Woolworths store has sparked a wave of nostalgia across Australia having only staffed registers and zero self-serve options
‘Self-serve checkouts for just a few items are great, as long as people get through them with speed,’ one person said.
‘For anything else, a real checkout is what you need.’
Another agreed, arguing that trolley-sized shops are better handled by staff.
‘When I’m unpacking the trolley at the same time someone is scanning, the job takes almost half the time,’ they wrote.
However, not everyone was anti self-serve checkouts.
‘I must be the only fan of self-service checkouts. Get in. Grab what you need. Get out,’ another shopper admitted.
The discussion reflects a broader shift in how Australians shop, and why scenes like this are now so rare.
A Woolworths spokesman told Daily Mail that self-serve technology is now available in 98 per cent of stores nationwide.
A spokesperson for Woolworths told Daily Mail that self-serve technology is now available in 98 per cent of stores nationwide. ‘We know some customers prefer to be served by a team member, and that’s why we always have a staffed checkout open at all times in all our supermarkets,’ they added
‘We know some customers prefer to be served by a team member, and that’s why we always have a staffed checkout open at all times in all our supermarkets,’ the spokesman said.
They added that self-serve checkouts remain a popular option for smaller shops, with millions of customers using them every day.
‘As customer buying habits have shifted, we are seeing more frequent, smaller basket sizes, and a strong customer preference for a quicker and easier self-serve checkout experience,’ he said.
For baskets with 20 items or fewer, 83 per cent of customers are choosing self-service checkouts.
For larger shops of more than 20 items, the majority (66 per cent) still opt for a staffed register.
Self-serve checkouts were first gradually rolled out by Woolworths in 2008, alongside major changes in how supermarkets operate behind the scenes.
With the growth of online shopping, Woolworths says it now employs more team members than ever before, including tens of thousands of personal shoppers who hand-pick online orders for delivery and Direct to Boot services – roles that didn’t exist just over a decade ago.
Still, for many shoppers scrolling past the viral image, none of that dulled the charm of seeing a supermarket that looked like Woolworths once did.
‘I forgot supermarkets ever looked like this. And now I kind of miss it.’
