CUSTOMIZED CASH-DRAWER SAFES SET AT DOMIMICK'S

LINDA PURPURA

NORTHLAKE, Ill. -- Dominick's Finer Foods here will be installing customized safes in the customer-service areas at all its supermarkets over the next 12 months. Approximately 20 of the retailer's 110 stores are already using the safes, which have individual lockable compartments for cashiers' till drawers.

The new safes allow Dominick's to make till-drawer operations more efficient, according to Ken Gutherie, manager of procurement at Dominick's. Previously, at the end of the cashier's shift, service personnel had to count the money in the drawer and put it into one main drawer at the service desk. Then the money was redistributed to do drawer setup. These processes could take up to two to three hours per day.

Now, when the cashier is done with work, "we still count what's in the drawer, but it stays in the drawer and is put in the safe for the next person," said Gutherie. "The drawer is recycled -- it doesn't matter who the next person is or what checkstand the person goes to. The money has already been tabulated and accounted for."

Each safe has six compartments for holding till drawers, and the service desk holds the keys to the safe. Most stores will have two or more safes in the service-desk area, which will allow the supermarket to securely hold all its till drawers there. These new safes complement safes already in use at the store.

The safes were designed by Dominick's and constructed by McGunn Safe, Chicago.