All of the stores here bag your groceries. But I still watch carefully so fragile items don't get smashed.

Lee

Except for Aldi, our stores still have bag people who bag and take the cart out to your car and load it. At Publix, they wear buttons that say "no tipping".

All bag here but Aldis and price clubs like Sams...
Unless I am getting deep discounts, I expect them to bag....rather like going into a department store and having to pack your own stuff.

The markets I shop typically have floating baggers who help out the busier lines. In other words, not every line has a bagger at a given time. I try my hardest to avoid them. I place items on the belt grouped how I want them bagged. Then a bagger comes along and screws up my system. Drives me nuts!

If there is no bagger on the line and you don't take initiative (most people do) then the cashier will bag. They will often thank you for bagging.

There are baggers here but it's been a long time since anyone offered to help take it to the car.

Nancy

Here in my area of North Carolina I never see customers bagging their own groceries except at the check-yourself-out in Harris-Teeter or sometimes when a couple is shopping together with a big cart or two piled high, the man will help to bag their order.

Often the baggers float among the check-out lanes, then the cashier will begin to bag but they never act like I'm supposed to take over that job for them. I always try to remember to thank both the cashier and the bagger - both hard jobs and 99% of the time they are very personable and cheerful. Lowe's always ask if I want help getting the cart to my car. Maybe someday when I'm really old and decrepit, but not yet. LOL!

Teresa

Unless it is a discount type store, the cashier or a floating bagger will bag your groceries. BUT, like FOAS, I try and group items the way that I want them bagged and I'll often start bagging myself. It certainly isn't difficult and it speeds up the process. Might as well do something while waiting for the items to be processed.

Ann

The only self bagging here is at Aldi's and Sams/Costco. the grocery stores even ask if I want help to the car. I generally tell them no, but could they come to the house and unpack for me? :) Many here hire the "challenged" for the bagging jobs and they do a better job than some of the sullen teens.

I recently made the mistake of doing self check out at Costco. Never again. Half the items didn't scan. I finally told a clerk that I wasn't paid by Costco to do this job, so move me to a regular line please. Next they will asking us to restock the shelves.

Goldgirl, I wouldn't be happy with that clerk's manners. There are nice ways of letting you know you have to bag your own.

In the L.A. area, Costco puts our purchases in whatever extra boxes they have. I think the FoodForLess has you bag your own groceries.

Otherwise, the local stores do have baggers who help, even the 99 cents only store.

At my local grocer, upscale definitely, service is key. Managers, cashiers, baggers, execs, all do what is necessary.

1. You are usually handed a cart when you enter. no stuck carts.

2. Free coffee in full size nice mugs, styro an option, cream, too. Reg and decaf

3. You put your own stuff in your own cart as you shop. Coffee holder built into the cart. Sip and shop. That's it.

4. At checkout, an employee unloads the cart onto the conveyer. You do have to pay!

5. Bagger, of course. Who also gives you a number, tags your cart and brings your cart outside to the car loading area.

6. You walk out with your number in your hand and car keys in other hand.

7. get in your car and drive a short distance to the car loading area where that staff asks you where you want your stuff. Pop the trunk or unlock a door. Your stuff is loaded in your car.

8. Poor little you. You have to bring your stuff inside your house and put it away....yourself.

They used to be very expensive but competition has moved in and they are not pricey anymore. Wonderful.

Baggers here in the Dallas area, too. And, when they're available, I'm asked if I need help taking my groceries to the car. On top of that, they're not allowed to take tips (even though I've offered it on the DL - they still don't accept a tip).

I often handle loading my own groceries to the car, but a few weeks ago, it was pouring rain. I told the bagger he could stay on the covered sidewalk area and I would bring the car up to the front of the store and we'd load the groceries into the car from there. He did it. And still wouldn't accept a tip.

My job is to buy the groceries. Their job is to scan them, bag them, and (on occasion) load them into my car. And yes, I wish I could bring them home to put the stuff away!

Lori :D

Wow. I am wishing that I lived somewhere else right about now.

Most of the major grocery stores in my area do not bag for you. There is a stash of paper and plastic bags at the end of the check out and customers are expected to bag their own. It has been this way for a long time here. Small grocers or a few upscale stores will bag for you, but in general it is up to the customer.

Carry my stuff to my car? Yeah, right.....

As for the self check outs...thanks, but no thanks. They never work right and I'd rather help keep someone employed in this mad world we live in.

Linda

Everyone bags for you here, except sometimes at the small Asian grocery when the lady is grumpy.

Crikey! You expect someone to put your shopping in bags for you and take it to the car? Not in europe! You do it all yourself.

Here (I'm also in Europe) the cashier will help you bag in most supermarkets, but not all.
There is no staff whose job is just to bag. And I've never had any supermarket employee offer to help push the cart to the car. In many places as well, the cashier will start checking through the goods of the next customer, pushing them through toward your pile of still unbagged things.

In one German discount supermarket here the cashiers won't help you bag, and as a matter of fact you're expected to load your purchases back into your cart unbagged and after paying, push it all in the cart over to another bagging counter where you can bag it all yourself, out of the way of the next customer at the cashier. Talk about an unfriendly policy toward customers, since it adds another step in the load/unload procedure of getting your groceries home and shelved.

In this chain supermarket they have even designed the counter space to the right of the till to be so narrow (about one foot wide,) that you are obliged to take the item from the cashier immediately and put it back into your cart. But I insist on bagging my things right there to the right of the till and making the cashier either help me or wait. And they charge you for the plastic bags. Next year all plastic bags will be banned so we are starting to use reusable cloth bags.

When a friend of ours from Germany came to Canada one year with us, he nearly fell over when the cashier smiled at him and said..."how are you today?" And then when the bagger came and packed his purchases he was left speechless. He'd never seen that before.

Europe still has a lot to learn about friendly service to customers. It was a big change a couple of years ago when one supermarket insisted that their cashiers make eye contact with the next customer in line and that they say "hello" (here it's hola). Previously they didn't even look at the next customer when they began to check out his goods.

SharonCb

We've never had baggers here but the checkout clerks have a sort of framework that the plastic bags they use for packing fit into and are held open so that as they scan each item they just put it straight into the bag. When the bag is full they take it out of the frame and place it on the end of the counter for the shopper to load into her/his cart, and then open up the next bag. The reusable cloth bags are in the main designed to fit into this frame easily so it's no struggle for the clerk to use instead of the plastic ones. Some clerks pack better than others and I try to unload my groceries onto the counter in a logical order so they get packed well. Some of the smaller shops don't have the frame thing and just push all the groceries to the end of the counter and then pack them when the tally is finished. I find it quicker to grab the bags and pack as the items are scanned and don't mind doing so, if I'm slow the clerk helps as well when she's totalled the bill. It never occurred to me to be hacked off at not having a bagger.

We live in a small community so I think we might have a little more customer service here. They do bag, when someone to do the bagging is available, but frankly I would rather do it myself. The young person who normally puts the stuff in my cloth grocery bags is trying to follow the rules of not putting dish soap in the same bag as say the ground beef and they end up wanting to put so few items in each bag owing to those guidelines that I can walk out of there with my cloth bags half full and three plastic bags semi-full. Which defeats the point of me bringing my own. That and when the teenager bagging puts my tomatoes at the bottom the bag of and hopes I don't notice I become rather annoyed:) Easier to do myself.

Kate

canarybird, you just reminded me, when someone was visiting us from Europe in Orlando, FL and we went shopping in Publix. While checking out, we had a lovely chat with the cashier. After we left the store, my visitor asked if I knew the person. When I said no, this is just the norm here to be friendly, nice and chat, he was completely floored :)
Here, in Central America, we have baggers. What is different from US, the cart you use to shop, gets unloaded at the cash register and left behind and after your groceries are bagged, get loaded to another type of cart that only the bagger is allowed to wheel out of the store to your car for loading. The store security will not allow you to wheel the cart out yourself. But you can carry your bags if you want to. So if we buy few things, we walk with the bags, if more, the bagger wheels the stuff to the car.

Most of the stores I shop at have floating baggers, sometimes, during the busy times of day. These are getting scarce, though. The cashier asks if I want help to the car, and it's in the script, cause they'll ask whether I'm buying a cart full or just one or two items. The bagger asks, too, so I'm usually asked at least a couple of times. Makes me wonder if I look that decrepit. What gets me is that when I bring my cloth bags, which is most of the time, they'll cram 20 or 30 pounds of stuff into one bag, even if I've brought several bags. When I've forgotten my bags, and have to take the plastic bags, they'll put one or two items in each bag. I will stand there and take things out of the plastic bags and re-bag so I'm going home with half the bags they used. It's just plain ridiculous, and I'm baffled. I have to re-bag stuff when they cram everything into my cloth bags, too, to make them more manageable.

There was one time I was totally stunned, though. I went to a Krogers that I don't usually go to, because it's at an inconvenient location. I pushed my cart up to the check-out line, and didn't see where to put the stuff. The cashier proceeded to unload my cart and start scanning the items. I haven't seen that since way back in the last century! I remember when it was the norm for the cashier to unload your groceries, a bagger to bag them, and they didn't ask you if you want help out, they just did it - it was the norm and expected.

As for self check out, the semi-premium (prices at premium, service and quality not quite there) store has recently installed self check out. I told the manager I was very disappointed, as I hate to see people lose their job. He insisted no one would lose their job, but they won't have to hire as many people. I'm sure people will lose hours, too. I hate those things, anyway, for the reason someone above posted - they just don't work well. Well, the other day it was clear most other people felt the same way, as the express line was very long, and the self check-outs were largely going unused. An employee came up to me and suggested I use the self check-out. I told him I hated those things, and I preferred to work with people rather than machines. He said he'd do it for me, so here's this guy checking me out at the self check out. How silly is that.

Sally

I'd *almost* consider adopting a teenage boy just so I didn't have to carry all the groceries from the car to the house. I don't mind at all putting them away, just hate lugging the heavy fabric totes into the house.

Teresa

Regarding self-checkout: I use them all the time if I've got a relatively small order if it's the shortest line. How well they work depends on the store/system. Unfortunately at my primary market (Stop & Shop) they're fairly awful. Several times I've mentioned to them - but of course not to the right people - that the scanners at their competition right down the road (King Kullen) work flawlessly every time. The good thing is there's always someone floating around to help.

Most stores I shop in have the cashier bag as s/he scans the items. If I have a large order the cashier will place certain items down from the bags because s/he doesn't want to pack them in the bags currently being packed. I'll usually pack those as I wait.

I love the self checkout at two of our stores. The systems are really slick and easy to use. I particularly like to use self checkout and pack when I'm shopping for the cottage. I separate items for home, items for the cottage requiring refrigeration and those for the cottage not requiring refrigeration, in different bags. That way I can just place bags, and all, in the fridge or in containers whichever is needed. No unpacking and no repacking!

Carry out to the car is available upon request but I have often heard the cashier offer to get someone if the customer was elderly or frail.

At Byerly's they have baggers and a drive through to pick up your groceries. Lund's has baggers and they will take your groceries to your car and put them in. Rainbow has baggers some of the time. And they will take your groceries to your car and load them if you ask. And Costco always has people that load the items back into your cart - no boxes for me though.

My preference is to pack my own groceries and walk them to my car just for the exercise. But I also prefer the stairs over the elevator whenever possible at work. Nothing gets the metabolism jump started better than 9 flights of stairs on my way to my desk in the morning. When I worked on the 29th floor, I took the elevator in the morning, but walked the stairs on my way out at night.

At one point in my life I was confined to a wheelchair for several months. After that experience, I enjoy every bit of movement I can get.

Teresa

I don't know of any places here that have baggers anymore. I think that they will bring someone out to bag/take out if someone is handicapped and/or elderly but that's it. Usually the checker just bags as she goes or people have reusable bags and bag it themselves. OH I JUST remembered one small family owned IGA store that still has a bagger at each line. But pretty much, except for aldi, the checker does it and the line is set up for that now with bags right by the checker.

We have two grocery stores here.
One national chain,
One Texas chain.

The Texas chain has 'floating' baggers.
Their set-up is very inconvienent for bagging your own.
So my assumption is they don't want you to,
It is the cashier's job.
And most of them willingly put the bags in the cart for you.
And offer to call a carry out.

The national chain is set up for the cashier to bag as they scan.
They also put the bags in the cart,
And offer to call a carry out.

Neither store has the self check-outs.

Both stores sell the cloth reusable bags,
But neither have a convienent method for using them.
NONE of them seem to know how to pack them, either.
Invariably, they put so much in them,
it takes a virile young body builder,
(which I am NOT)
to lift them. :>)

Rusty

Most of the stores here have baggers. Only at Publix will they take the groceries out for you and no tipping is allowed. Frankly at Publix I had rather bag them myself because some of the baggers do such a horrible job. Last night I went there and the bagger (an older gentleman)put my two tubs of hot soup in a bag and threw the fresh cilantro in with it to wilt before I got home. Many other times when they take it to the car they will throw the half gallons of milk, detergent, etc on top of the bread, produce, etc. Trained they are not. They have floating baggers so sometimes the checker may bag and you have to take it to the car yourself. I don't mind this except when it is heavy and at night. My Publix is in a better part of town, yet I have been accosted when barely dark and fed a line, then asked for money by a man,therefore I don't like to take the groceries out at night by myself.

Other stores here have baggers but none have carryout. Many have mentally challenged people bagging. I don't mind this, but what I do mind is at Kroger where the checkers are so busy carrying on foolishness between each other that they don't seem interested in their actual job.

At Costco they put your products in boxes their products came in. These boxes are difficult for me to handle and I usually wheel them to my car and unload piece by piece into waiting sacks in my car.

I shop at four different stores: Vons (Safeway owned), Henry's (like a Sprout's), Stater Bros (Southern California chain) and the military commissary.

At all four, there are people to bag for you. Vons, Stater Bros and the Commissary offer to help you out to your car. Henry's has never done that, to my knowledge. At the commissary, baggers are not paid, so it is up to the customer to tip.

My daughters first jobs were as Courtesy Clerks at Stater Bros. They bagged groceries, pushed carts and pushed brooms. Though each had to attend a training session before being put "on the floor", each knew how to bag groceries before they got there. The register clerks all loved to work with my girls because they were pleasant *and* they bagged groceries the way Mom wanted them bagged!

Donna

I bag my own stuff at Trader Joe's and I am always thanked by the cashiers, grin. I figured it gives me something to do and moves me out faster as well. I keep bags in my car and use those. Only one store has self-checkout as an option, I don't use it if I have produce, and I only use it if I have a few things since it does take more time than a cashier.

Almost 10 years ago, I was in a super market in Pisa where you got a hand held scanner when you entered the store. It fit in a cup holder thingy on the cart handle. Before putting your item in the cart, you scanned it. Then at check out, you presented a card with mag strip. The checker swiped it, then downloaded your items for a total. I'm assuming the locals (the ones with a card) could then download their purchases to their home computer to keep inventory. There were baggers but of course you paid for a bag if you didn't bring your own.

Upon returning home, did considerable research then I asked a senior programmer in our IT department about the possibility of a program and consumer scanners for the home pantry. He reply was that Americans are organized enough to warrant a product like this. Of course now there are phone apps that do much of this.

Varies by store around here. I certainly wouldn't expect a store to bag it for me if they're set up (and accordingly price) for not bagging and it doesn't matter whether you consider their prices to be high or not.

Frankly I much prefer to bag things myself. I don't overload the bags like some of them do. I keep refrigerated and frozen separate from non-perishibles, like they don't. And I don't put bread and eggs underneath the canned goods!

Plus I double bag and will sometimes put certain things into a bag inside a bag. For instance, flour goes into a separate bag if going into another bag of stuff. Cleaners, poisons, etc are always separate from edibles. I don't mind bagging. I don't see it as being too good to do it or as a chore. I see it as getting things my way and more organized. I can also pack things separately that go upstairs, downstairs or into the garage and that saves me time. I often go to the self-checkout so I *can* bag it myself at the stores that insist on bagging.

Thanks for all the interesting responses!

The Kings, where the clerk wasn't interested in bagging, is set up for it and normally does bag. That's why I was so surprised. Think perhaps I just got a grumpy clerk who was annoyed that I brought my own bag. I usually make small talk to the clerks as well, but this one definitely wasn't interested. At Shop Rite, the clerks love to chat, which I always enjoy.

I've never seen a self-check at Costco out this way. A few have express lanes, and during extremely busy times, a clerk will use a portable scanner to read all the items in the cart, so when I get to the cashier, all I have to do is pay. They're always fast, and DH loves to organize/pack, so he always helps put things in the cart.

I'm really surprised at the number of stores mentioned here that take groceries to the car. I think Wegman's and Shop Rite do this for elderly/disabled folks but you have to ask for help.

I agree about the self-check - although I use them, they frequently get stuck. Fortunately, there's usually someone there to clear the system.

Here in Minot besides Walmart, we have two other larger stores, but they have combined to be under one name. They are pretty good bagging and if it is really busy, the managers will help out too. During the winter we have a drive up area under a roof to protect from the snow/rain etc.
The majority of the clerks are really nice, but many are either college kids, or their spouses are in the Af. from the base.

Here, it depends on the store. Some don't bag at all. Others do. We have drive up pick-up service at only a couple of stores, but it is a free service.

I remember as a kid, grocery shopping with my mom and there was always walkout service all the time. I don't see this at all anymore, but I would imagine that the higher end grocery chains here would allow walkout service upon request.

AT my regular grocery, you are not expected to bag, but a lot of people do it anyway. I bag if my order is big. Usually by the time I give them my store card and enter my Visa in the reader, the checker has a small order already bagged. One thing I like about bagging for myself is that I can set up the "paper in plastic". I prefer that since I use the paper bags to recycle newspaper and with the plastic on the outside, it doesn't tear and it has handles.

At TJ's, the checker pulls the cart behind the conveyor belt and unloads it. At every other store around here, you unload it yourself.

Back in the '60's I lived in Hartford. At the store, they bagged your groceries and put the bags in a large box. Then the box went on a roller system so that your bags rolled out of the store to the curb. You drove your car around and an attendant put them in your car. That was great! I think they gave you a number to match your order to prevent mix-ups.

Today at BJ's, there were no carts available. I was only buying three things, so I juggled them. I used self-checkout and put them in a box I found in the store. NO service whatsoever. My membership costs $50/yr. They could at least bring the carts in from the lot.

Generally, all the grocery stores in my market bag for you. The exception has a specially designed "spillway" downstream of the cashier which separates one customer's items from those of the next, so the line never gets slowed down or stopped by a slow-poke. But for a variety of other reasons, I prefer the full-service alternative store.

Historically, grocery stores here provided a bagging service because it was a shrewd marketing move. Customers who have to do some of that work themselves, or were delayed at the cashier by slow folks ahead, tend to buy less, and are more likely to actually walk out without buying anything if they are inconvenienced beyond their patience limits. However, if most customers are willing to put up with bad service (I was appalled by the service when I lived in the UK), it is an easy way for a merchant to cut costs. Grocery stores typically operate on much narrower margins than other retail businesses, so it is often worthwhile to do almost anything to encourage customers to buy a few extra things they don't know they need.

I shop at King Soopers which is a Kroger brand. Baggers float the busier lines, but at busy times all lines have baggers. They'll help you out to the car, too, but I usually handle that myself unless I'm in a big hurry or have 2 carts. If there isn't a bagger, I'll bag my groceries and then the checker helps at the end. They ALWAYS thank me for that.

I'd complain to the manager about how that checker treated you. I won't tolerate rude behavior any more--maybe it's a function of aging.

All the grocery stores we go to have baggers. The only stores that don't are places like BJ's and Costco. When we go shopping, we usually bring our own canvas shopping bags. We have a pile of them from all different stores. We put them on the conveyor belt first, the cashier pushes to the bagger and they take it from there. NancyLouise

Here the only grocery store is my small independent grocery store. They have baggers and those baggers take your groceries to your car and put them in for you. They always ask if I want paper or plastic bags and whether I have remembered to bring my cloth bags with me. I generally tell them not to bother to take my groceries out for me, I can handle it myself. Most of the baggers are teenagers, and if they squash my groceries, I tell their mother, a complaint to the highest authority, LOL.

When I have only a few items the cashier bags them and I carry the bag out myself, not needing a cart.

It has never dawned on me that anyone taking my bags to the car might expect a tip, I've never tipped a person taking groceries to my car for me. Elery tells me that when he was a teenager working at the Italian grocery he often carried groceries to customers' homes, several blocks away, and no one ever tipped him back then either.

The town west of me has a Walmart Supercenter and an independent grocer. Sure enough, the independent has people who bag and who take the groceries to the car. Walmart has neither and if the cashier has to bag the groceries they get cranky.

The closest "big" town is Big Rapids, their only grocery stores are WalMart and Meijer. Walmart has no baggers and no one to take articles to the car. Meijer will have someone take your groceries out but you have to ask them to. The cashier at Meijer bags the groceries and places them in the cart for you unless you go through the self-check lane. I don't because it's never faster, something always goes wrong and I have to wait for an employee anyway.

In Grand Rapids the Meijer stores have started a service where you get on line, order your groceries and they are waiting for you to pick up. You just drive up to the designated spot, provide your information and they load your already packed and paid for groceries in your vehicle, you never even have to get out. I think it costs $10, but one of my lawyers lived in Grand Rapids and said it saved him a lot of money because he didn't make any impulse buys and didn't have to take both kids in the store with him. I think it's probably a very good idea.

Annie

Annie, the Harris Teeter now has that shopping service for their customers too. They keep the bags of groceries in special lockers to maintain proper temps and bring it out to your car when you drive up and they load it in the car for you. Charge is only $4.95 and the first time is free! My sister loves it.

Teresa

Some around here have the floating baggers, but it seems that they have fewer and fewer of them. Not that I NEED the service, and I'm only 30, but I remember when all the grocers had a bagger in every isle that was open. Except for the 'express' where the clerk would bag for you. Most of my buddies had their first jobs baggin and stockin shelves at the Laneco that was within a short bike ride of our neighborhood. The new discount joint that just opened up not only doesn't bag at all, but they put your items back in the cart and direct you to a separate location for you to bag it up. Here's the kicker... if you forgot to bring your own bags, they charge you 35cents per bag (big, plastic, reusable ones)....

The baggers here ask "may I take your groceries to your car?". I have always tipped (like for years) and I continue to tip even with the "No Tipping" buttons they wear, because, as you can imagine, a majority of the baggers here are retirees and the others are student.

My preference would be to load my own groceries into my car but I like to support both groups as long as I can do so. If DH is with me, I say "no thank you, I brought my own help."

My grocery store is sometimes lacking baggers and the cashier will do it...unless I get in the bagger's spot and start bagging. I much much prefer to bag my own stuff. I use fewer bags and squish fewer items. Trader Joe's always bags and the cashiers are pretty good. I'd do it myself there to help out but they don't have a bag station. (I bring my bags but I'm not tall enough to load them on the counter without tippytoeing and I feel silly.)

Fresh & Easy mixes up the roles of customer and employee. When you have a cart full of items, you scan and an employee bags your groceries (their plastic grocery bags are among the sturdiest I've seen, so I think they do this to discourage unnecessary double-bagging).

At the 15-items-or-less checkouts, you do both jobs.

You also handle the money: feeding in cash, swiping a card, scanning a coupon (only their own), etc.

Do you unload your groceries onto the conveyor belt or do you push the cart where the checker unloads it? All the stores except TJ's let you do this yourself around here. Once on a trip to CO I was totally confused because you were supposed to let the checker unload your cart.

If I'm in a hurry or doubt whether the bagger will separate the meat from the bananas, I'll bag them myself.
I have never had anyone take the groceries out to the car for me, that would make me embarrassed to have the tottering old men haul things I can do more easily. I hope I will always be able to do that for myself. But if I physically couldn't I would get help.

I shop at so many different types of stores and here there seems to be no difference in bagging.
I might have an excellent clerk at Wal Mart one day and a clueless one at the upscale grocer the next. Or vice versa.

Bumble, My nephew, who works at my store, says the baggers enjoy getting out plus they take turns bring back carts that are left in the parking lot.

I don't recall seeing "tottering old men"; certainly I wouldn't, nor would the store management, want fragile people responsible for hauling groceries. While I do take my own groceries out 50% of the time, I always converse with the baggers and exchange pleasantries when they do take the cart out for me.

We have some frail looking baggers here. I figure they need the job. But they never look happy.

Most of the grocers here bag your groceries and offer to take it to your car except for a afew of the high volume discounts which I rarely shop at as their meat and produce quality is poor. Competition is high among grocers here so I support the better ones, in the long run, I don't save much by shopping the discount stores except at Costco who still ring up your goods and put themm back in your cart. We stopped at a costco once that had self check out but we went on strike and opted for the clerk checkout. I hate self check out, if they expect to sell me something, the least they can do is collect my money and put it in a bag for me. Otherwise I check out Amazon for the items. I would rather support vendors that are trying their best to show you they appreciate your business.