AUTOMATED GARMENT STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEM

An automated storage and retrieval system for managing the contents of a garment-on-hanger (GOH) storage area includes an autonomous "transporter" that is configured to transport GOH items between the processing area and the storage area and an automated "forager" that can hold and manipulate a GOH item to place it in, or retrieve it from, a storage location. The transporter and forager work together to automatically store and retrieve GOH items, riding on a system of rails and moving between vertical levels on an elevator. Standardized "mother hooks" are used from which the GOH items hang, which may be held by a picker arm of the forager, and inserted into slots in storage areas and on the transporter. Blades on the forager may be inserted to either side of a GOH item to allow adjacent GOH items to be displaced during manipulation.