Food Lion's Robot Marty Reports Spills, Checks Prices

Food Lion’s newest employee poses for selfies. His name is Marty, and he is a robot that reports spills, checks prices, and yes, even poses for selfies with customers.

A story in The Daily Meal took a trip to the Food Lion in LaFollette, Tenn., to meet him and here’s what they found:

“Marty looks like a slim gray capital letter 'I' come to life, with the addition of blue lights, a wheeled black base, and those winning googly eyes, which make him look more like a friendly cartoon and less like a terrifying Terminator. He even sports a name tag, just like the store’s other employees," The Daily Meal reported.

“He has been a great addition to the team,” a Food Lion representative told The Daily Meal.

Marty rolls around the market performing what are called “safety sweeps,” and alerts the human employees if he spots any slip-and-fall hazards. Food Lion says he makes his rounds 12 times a day, seven days a week.

“By having Marty perform the sweeps of the store and verify pricing information, our associates can spend more time interacting with customers and providing them the services they expect from Food Lion,” the company representative said.

Matthew Harakal, manager of media and communications for Food Lion, told the website Munchies that  “Marty is collecting information to help us do a more efficient job and create a better shopping experience for our customers,” but can’t take the place of human workers.