Self Service Honesty Store Hearts its Shoppers

Any customer walking into a store, no matter the type of store, can usually be certain that someone will be there to charge for the goods chosen. It may be the owner, or an employee, but there is always someone on hand to ensure things run smoothly and payments are made. But Daniel Wojtyński, a Polish fruit farmer, has decided to change things up to help people.

His little shop, which sells fresh berries and delicious homemade jams and juices, runs on the “honor system”, shares The First News. The customers are trusted to pay the correct amount by leaving their money in a cash box, and take what they have purchased and nothing more. There is no one there to oversee the transaction, and the only explanations and instructions are written on a list for everyone to see and read.

The shop, named Malinogród & Malinowe Wzgórza (roughly translated as “Raspberry Garden & Raspberry Hills”), started life as a regular shop, with employees and standard payment methods. 

However, the employees started working early in the morning and would finish around 2pm. Most customers wanted to pick up their orders at around 5pm. So Wojtyński’s store started offering customers the option to pick up their orders at 5pm from a booth near the farm. Eventually they realized they could run the store unmanned with just the price list and cash box.

There are other places that have experimented with such “trust’ shops as well. In Japan’s countryside, says Japantoday, you can sometimes find unmanned fruit and vegetable shops. Although in some parts of  the world this would be a recipe for trouble, there are low-crime areas in Japan where the “honor system” works well, just like with Wojtyński’s small store in Poland.

While there have been a few thefts in the “Raspberry Garden & Raspberry Hills” shop, the store owner’s daughter, Nadia, is still positive about their business, and has faith in humankind. She told Trojmiastol.pl, a Polish internet and media portal, that despite the handful of thefts, she believes that eventually, society will get used to stores using the honor system, and there will be less theft.

The store, therefore, is here to stay. Hikers and other locals continue to enjoy the delicious and fresh products and will likely continue to do so for a long time. And perhaps if other shops follow suit, Nadia’s prediction of a more honest society will come true sooner than we think.