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The layout is entirely by design to feel like you’re strolling down “Main Street” Americana. I learned this decades ago when I worked for Walmart setting up st

The layout is entirely by design to feel like you’re strolling down “Main Street” Americana. I learned this decades ago when I worked for Walmart setting up stores and training folks. It was explicitly made clear to us this is what the layout was designed to elicit

lotsofpulp 3y ago
I would be surprised if most people under 60 or even 50 know what strolling down “Main Street” means. In my 30+ years, I have never once strolled down a Main Street. I have always gone to big stores and malls (and now online shopping).
- tantalor 3y ago
  > I have never once strolled down a Main Street You know it doesn't have to be named "Main Street" to be a Main Street
  - lotsofpulp 3y ago
    Yes, I meant shopping while walking around an old school downtown with a clothing store next to a grocer next to a shoe store next to a diner next to hardware store etc. I only ever remember going to Walmart, Home Depot, Costco, Best Buy, malls, Kroger, etc.
    - saalweachter 3y ago
      The Hudson Valley has something analogous to bedroom communities, scenic small towns which have vibrant downtowns with all sorts of little shops for weekenders to stroll around.
- no_wizard 3y ago
  I consider it the fact that Walmart for a long time had a mostly rural and suburban strategy that skews demographics to people 40+. It’s a Sam Walton hold over that I think is being slowly replaced. What WalMart hates the most is that they can’t get people of affluence who want to save money to shop at one though. When I worked there the complaint out of HQ I heard the most is that Michelle Obama and Oprah would shop at a Target but never step foot in a Walmart despite having identical goods but Walmart has better prices
  - JimtheCoder 3y ago
    "What WalMart hates the most is that they can’t get people of affluence who want to save money to shop at one though" I guess you can't be everything to everybody...
  - scottLobster 3y ago
    The harsh lighting and reflective white paint literally hurts my eyes in Walmart. Like there's a low-grade sting and I'm slightly squinting for the duration of my shopping trip. Target doesn't have this problem, and I'm willing to pay a slight premium if it's convenient. Maybe they can fix that first.
    - SoftTalker 3y ago
      Yes, Target seems to explicitly use warmer lighting and earth tones. Walmart is flourescent light and shades of blue. It's awful.
    - redgreenshoe 3y ago
      Wal-Mart, uniquely among large stores I've been in, makes me feel bad. I don't remember this being the case, say, 20 years ago. It seems to have worse over time. I think it's the lighting and design, though I'm not sure exactly what about it. Walking in instantly makes me miserable. Probably doesn't help that shoppers and workers alike all look sad, constantly (but how much of that is because the store itself is doing that to them?) Also, nobody in them seem to know how to exist in public without constantly being in the way. Wal-Mart has an uncanny ability to feel crowded while not actually being crowded. I don't get it.
      - vidanay 3y ago
        But it is crowded. The aisles are easily 18" narrower than they were 20 years ago. I distinctly remember the last time my local Walmart remodeled and you could see the shadows of the old shelves and aisles on the floor still.
    - paulmd 3y ago
- mrits 3y ago
  If you name a large city in the US I can probably tell you the name of the main street that is packed with locals
  - rblatz 3y ago
    Dayton Ohio
    - mrits 3y ago
      Believe it or not it hasn't been a vacation spot for me yet.
      - rblatz 3y ago
        As someone that grew up there, I don't blame you.
  - johnnyanmac 3y ago
    Los Angeles (City)? It's just packed with locals in general (mostly for the worst). There are a few "main streets" if you really think about it, but it's not really a meaningful term in such a huge city. Maybe it's more of an Eastern US term?
- thoughtpalette 3y ago
  Ancedotal experience from a 35 yo here. Growing up in Metro Detroit, there were "Main Streets" in most of the Cities/townships and IIRC it's a pretty common term. I'd argue most people under 60 and 50 know what "Main Street" means just to counter.
- Nickersf 3y ago
  I still do it. There are many Americans who still do it daily. There's a certain charm and feel to walking down a commercial street in a small town instead of walking through a fluorescent lit generic corporate branded super store. Online shopping is inevitable. There are products you just don't find in local shops anymore. I think a good example of that is Radio Shack. When I was a kid, that's where you went for you electronics needs as a hobbyist. There were even a few locally owned electronics shops in the area. Now you get that off of Amazon.
- scottLobster 3y ago
  Sounds like you don't get out much. I'm 35, grew up in a sterile DC-area bedroom community and even I walked down main streets when I went 10 minutes down the road on shopping trips. Then again there are a lot of cities/towns on the east coast that predate the car, so there's probably an increased concentration of "main streets".
  - BobbyJo 3y ago
    I think the key is DC area. Having grown up in a small town, we didn't have a main street anymore, only a Walmart.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - newswasboring 3y ago
    > Sounds like you don't get out much Just completely unnecessary ad hominem. Why?
    - scottLobster 3y ago
      I was responding to a guy saying anyone under 50 has probably never walked down a Main St. Which I took as yet more "old man yells at cloud" sentiment. It's not just where I grew up either, the town where I went to college had a literal "Main St" with privately owned shops/bars/etc, and a permanent population of ~35,000. All of the ~20,000 students walked down it at some point because that's where the University book store and most of the popular bars/restaurants were. The suburb I live in now has a literal "Main St" as well. Maybe it's an east coast thing, but saying he doesn't get out much was more a statement of fact. I can't think of anyone I've ever met who has never experienced a Main St, and the only people I can think of who might possibly meet that criteria are people who live in tiny rural towns that they never leave, aka people who don't get out much.
      - newswasboring 3y ago
        > Which I took as yet more "old man yells at cloud" sentiment. This is the uncharitable assumption which you didn't have to make. Someone was describing something they observed, you can counter them without making silly snide comments.
- chollida1 3y ago
  Interesting. I've lived in cities since I've been an adult and every neighborhood I've lived in still has a main street for our small community inside the city. Granted this is only 4 different places, but most cities have many smaller communities inside of them with their own "main streets" The neighborhood I currently live in, is considered by its residents to be its own little town inside of the city with everything being walkable along the main street. We even talk about leaving our neighbourhood to go to other places within Toronto.
- sudosteph 3y ago
  You've missed out then! I grew up in a town with a thriving Main St (Davidson, NC) and loved every minute there. The great coffee shop, diner, drug store, bookstore, library, ice cream shop, and gift store all come to mind. Its popularity was an outlier when I was younger, but since then I've actually seen other local towns with formerly dilapidated main streets turn it around (Mooresville for example). Walkability is in huge demand, and these older communities are some of the best options in the region for that.
- paleotrope 3y ago
  Not enough Nail Salons/Hair salons in a Walmart though.

lotsofpulp 3y ago

I would be surprised if most people under 60 or even 50 know what strolling down “Main Street” means. In my 30+ years, I have never once strolled down a Main Street. I have always gone to big stores and malls (and now online shopping).

tantalor 3y ago
> I have never once strolled down a Main Street You know it doesn't have to be named "Main Street" to be a Main Street
- lotsofpulp 3y ago
  Yes, I meant shopping while walking around an old school downtown with a clothing store next to a grocer next to a shoe store next to a diner next to hardware store etc. I only ever remember going to Walmart, Home Depot, Costco, Best Buy, malls, Kroger, etc.
  - saalweachter 3y ago
    The Hudson Valley has something analogous to bedroom communities, scenic small towns which have vibrant downtowns with all sorts of little shops for weekenders to stroll around.
no_wizard 3y ago
I consider it the fact that Walmart for a long time had a mostly rural and suburban strategy that skews demographics to people 40+. It’s a Sam Walton hold over that I think is being slowly replaced. What WalMart hates the most is that they can’t get people of affluence who want to save money to shop at one though. When I worked there the complaint out of HQ I heard the most is that Michelle Obama and Oprah would shop at a Target but never step foot in a Walmart despite having identical goods but Walmart has better prices
- JimtheCoder 3y ago
  "What WalMart hates the most is that they can’t get people of affluence who want to save money to shop at one though" I guess you can't be everything to everybody...
- scottLobster 3y ago
  The harsh lighting and reflective white paint literally hurts my eyes in Walmart. Like there's a low-grade sting and I'm slightly squinting for the duration of my shopping trip. Target doesn't have this problem, and I'm willing to pay a slight premium if it's convenient. Maybe they can fix that first.
  - SoftTalker 3y ago
    Yes, Target seems to explicitly use warmer lighting and earth tones. Walmart is flourescent light and shades of blue. It's awful.
  - redgreenshoe 3y ago
    Wal-Mart, uniquely among large stores I've been in, makes me feel bad. I don't remember this being the case, say, 20 years ago. It seems to have worse over time. I think it's the lighting and design, though I'm not sure exactly what about it. Walking in instantly makes me miserable. Probably doesn't help that shoppers and workers alike all look sad, constantly (but how much of that is because the store itself is doing that to them?) Also, nobody in them seem to know how to exist in public without constantly being in the way. Wal-Mart has an uncanny ability to feel crowded while not actually being crowded. I don't get it.
    - vidanay 3y ago
      But it is crowded. The aisles are easily 18" narrower than they were 20 years ago. I distinctly remember the last time my local Walmart remodeled and you could see the shadows of the old shelves and aisles on the floor still.
  - paulmd 3y ago
mrits 3y ago
If you name a large city in the US I can probably tell you the name of the main street that is packed with locals
- rblatz 3y ago
  Dayton Ohio
  - mrits 3y ago
    Believe it or not it hasn't been a vacation spot for me yet.
    - rblatz 3y ago
      As someone that grew up there, I don't blame you.
- johnnyanmac 3y ago
  Los Angeles (City)? It's just packed with locals in general (mostly for the worst). There are a few "main streets" if you really think about it, but it's not really a meaningful term in such a huge city. Maybe it's more of an Eastern US term?
thoughtpalette 3y ago
Ancedotal experience from a 35 yo here. Growing up in Metro Detroit, there were "Main Streets" in most of the Cities/townships and IIRC it's a pretty common term. I'd argue most people under 60 and 50 know what "Main Street" means just to counter.
Nickersf 3y ago
I still do it. There are many Americans who still do it daily. There's a certain charm and feel to walking down a commercial street in a small town instead of walking through a fluorescent lit generic corporate branded super store. Online shopping is inevitable. There are products you just don't find in local shops anymore. I think a good example of that is Radio Shack. When I was a kid, that's where you went for you electronics needs as a hobbyist. There were even a few locally owned electronics shops in the area. Now you get that off of Amazon.
scottLobster 3y ago
Sounds like you don't get out much. I'm 35, grew up in a sterile DC-area bedroom community and even I walked down main streets when I went 10 minutes down the road on shopping trips. Then again there are a lot of cities/towns on the east coast that predate the car, so there's probably an increased concentration of "main streets".
- BobbyJo 3y ago
  I think the key is DC area. Having grown up in a small town, we didn't have a main street anymore, only a Walmart.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- newswasboring 3y ago
  > Sounds like you don't get out much Just completely unnecessary ad hominem. Why?
  - scottLobster 3y ago
    I was responding to a guy saying anyone under 50 has probably never walked down a Main St. Which I took as yet more "old man yells at cloud" sentiment. It's not just where I grew up either, the town where I went to college had a literal "Main St" with privately owned shops/bars/etc, and a permanent population of ~35,000. All of the ~20,000 students walked down it at some point because that's where the University book store and most of the popular bars/restaurants were. The suburb I live in now has a literal "Main St" as well. Maybe it's an east coast thing, but saying he doesn't get out much was more a statement of fact. I can't think of anyone I've ever met who has never experienced a Main St, and the only people I can think of who might possibly meet that criteria are people who live in tiny rural towns that they never leave, aka people who don't get out much.
    - newswasboring 3y ago
      > Which I took as yet more "old man yells at cloud" sentiment. This is the uncharitable assumption which you didn't have to make. Someone was describing something they observed, you can counter them without making silly snide comments.
chollida1 3y ago
Interesting. I've lived in cities since I've been an adult and every neighborhood I've lived in still has a main street for our small community inside the city. Granted this is only 4 different places, but most cities have many smaller communities inside of them with their own "main streets" The neighborhood I currently live in, is considered by its residents to be its own little town inside of the city with everything being walkable along the main street. We even talk about leaving our neighbourhood to go to other places within Toronto.
sudosteph 3y ago
You've missed out then! I grew up in a town with a thriving Main St (Davidson, NC) and loved every minute there. The great coffee shop, diner, drug store, bookstore, library, ice cream shop, and gift store all come to mind. Its popularity was an outlier when I was younger, but since then I've actually seen other local towns with formerly dilapidated main streets turn it around (Mooresville for example). Walkability is in huge demand, and these older communities are some of the best options in the region for that.
paleotrope 3y ago
Not enough Nail Salons/Hair salons in a Walmart though.