Simbe's Tally robots roll into L.A. Ralphs; UFCW pushes back

A six-foot shelf-scanning robot named Tally is now patrolling a Ralphs on Pico Boulevard, flagging missing products, misplaced items and pricing errors for the staff. The Los Angeles Times reported that the unit, built by Burlingame-based Simbe Robotics, has also turned up at Ralphs stores on Vermont Avenue and Adams Boulevard and at a Bristol Farms in Santa Monica.

Simbe says more than 3,000 of its Tally units have been contracted worldwide, and a Kroger-operated Smith's store manager posted on LinkedIn that Kroger deployed its 500th robot in August. The company says the robot 'is designed to understand shelf conditions, not identify or track humans,' and claims it can save employees up to 50 hours of work per week.

Workers were not warned. UFCW Local 770 president Kathy Finn told the Times that 'Our members should not be finding out about major changes to their workplace only after new technology shows up in their stores.' The union statement went further, saying outsourcing the work 'will erode our unity in the worksite, reduce available hours for those who need them to pay the rent, and threaten the stability of our benefits.'

Shoppers reacted in real time. Ricardo Valadez, a 62-year-old real estate agent, said he thought 'What the hell is that?' when a unit rolled past him, and added that he 'felt that it was following me.' Ralphs employee Rachel Fournier said the robot 'just showed up out of nowhere' and asked, 'What are they trying to do here?'

The context is a wider Kroger push: CFO David Kennerley has said the company is 'investing aggressively' in AI, and Kroger has signaled plans to cut about 3,000 corporate jobs over three years. Two of the researchers we track flagged the Times story within hours of publication.