By the way, I am in no way trying to be dismissive of your viewpoint, TAC. I have plenty of experience in the retail world, and I get what you're saying. I understand the more service-oriented mindset and why some prefer that.
It's probably largely because I spent years working retail, though, that my attitude (particularly with grocery shopping) is basically, "take my money and get the hell out of my way." I just don't want to be there. I go in, grab my stuff quickly, and I want to check out quickly, with minimal delays and interactions. ALDI is good for that, and I appreciate the low prices they can deliver. And in any other store, I'm a self-checkout guy, unless I have short-dated items where the price reduction needs to be hand keyed by an associate. I don't really care to have someone bag my items for me or take care of my cart, because I can do it quickly by myself.