Retail products storage and dispensing apparatus and method

A product storage and dispensing system for dispensing retail product at cheek-out counters, the system comprising:

• a check-out counter having space defined thereunder and having a conveyor for moving product from an unloading station to a bagging station;
• a customer interface with user manipulatable controls for selection of a retail product to be dispensed from a list of retail products;
• two or more storage devices located in the space under the check-out counter for storing retail products corresponding to the list of retail products, at least one of the storage devices being located below the unloading station and at least one of the storage devices being located below the bagging station:
• two or more dispensing devices for transferring the retail products corresponding to the list of retail products from the storage devices to a position above or beside the check-out counter in response to selection of the one or more of the retail products by the customer via the customer interface;
• and
• a disabling and monitoring system operatively associated with the dispensing devices or the customer interface for monitoring statistical information associated with the dispensed retail products and for selectively enabling or disabling operation of the dispensing devices.