Sam’s Club Will Add More Robots To Its Hudson Valley Stores

As concerns over distancing increase as COVID-19 numbers spike across the nation, one major chain has a plan to limit human interaction in its stores. Robot janitors. Now, this isn't something from a sci-fi movie, it's reality. In fact, this major stores plans to have robots in all its stores during the pandemic. One has to wonder though; what are going to happen to the human employees that are already working there? Will they be replaced?

CNN is reporting that Sam's Club will distribute 372 new robotic floor cleaners to its stores this fall. Sam's is following in the footsteps of its parent company, Walmart, who has already deployed its own fleet of robotic drones to clean up their many locations.

There's strong interest in moving rapidly in this direction because everyone knows they need to raise their game to stay competitive. It's ultimately more cost-effective to automate than to staff up, especially in today's labor market.

Sam's says that look to redshift current employees to helping customers, rather than being bogged down with cleaning, inventory etc. The grocery hopes to increase efficiency across it's brands, as customer questions and concerns rise amid the pandemic.

Walmart has already been toying around with technology like this before. In 2019, the  chain announced that by February 2021, it expects to have robotic floor scrubbers in 1,860 of its more than 4,700 stores across the United States. They also have other working robots that can scan shelf inventory and boxes at a number of their locations, according to CNN. 

Sam's Club has Hudson Valley locations in Middletown, Fishkill, Kingston, and Elmsford.