Mystery At Checkstand 6 – What Happened At The Simi Valley Smart & Final
Daniel Jordan 
(CLAIR | Simi Valley, CA) — On September 4, a man checked out at register six at the Smart & Final on Los Angeles Avenue, near Chi Chi’s Pizza.
His groceries were nothing unusual — a bottle of vegetable oil, butter, frozen fries, a steam pan, and a 12-pack of Canada Dry ginger ale. Items you might pick up if you were cooking for family, or maybe getting ready to have a few people over.
But in the middle of paying, something happened. As he pulled out his wallet, a $20 bill slipped from his pocket and landed on the floor. No one around the register noticed at the time. He finished his transaction, took his things, and walked out, never realizing what he had left behind.
The $20 stayed on the floor while the line at checkstand 6 kept moving. Carts rolled up, items slid across the scanner, and the drawer opened and closed. The bill went unnoticed.
When things slowed down, an employee finally spotted it. They stepped out from behind the counter and reached down to pick it up. A quick check of the till showed the drawer was balanced, so the money hadn’t come from there.
Not wanting it to get lost, the worker stapled the bill to a receipt and added a note: “9/4/25 – 613 – found by register 6, customer dropped.” The money was put aside.
For a week, the staff waited, wondering if the customer would return.
On September 11, he did.
Again, the man came through the store with a cart of groceries that looked like they could be for a small gathering. As he checked out, one employee thought he looked familiar. They called over another associate, and together they studied the customer.
They glanced at each other, a quiet smile passing back and forth. After a week of waiting, the mystery at checkstand 6 might finally have its answer.
One of them said, “Hold on, I’ll be right back.” The associate hurried to the store office and returned carrying a mobile phone with security footage pulled up.
On the screen, the man saw himself at checkstand 6 a week earlier. He reached into his pocket, pulled out his wallet, and along with it, a single bill slipped to the floor.
The employees smiled again. They were glad to help, and maybe a little proud that the mystery they had been talking about all week was finally solved. The $20 was returned, still stapled to the note and receipt.
It’s a small thing, but it says a lot about the store. Smart & Final isn’t the first place most people in Simi Valley think of for groceries. Bigger names like Vons or Stater Bros. usually come to mind. Most Simi residents forget Smart & Final is even over there.
But the people who work there certainly pay attention. They notice their customers. They remember faces. Where they care enough to go out of their way to make something right, and where honesty is still part of the job.
Smart & Final, mystery at checkstand 6…solved!
