Which Walmart layout is the best?

[ErmineNotyours]

I haven't been to Walmart in a while, but the Renton Fred Meyer has the gates installed accessing the apparel section only.  Today as I blocked the exit to pay for something, a couple was following me to get out.  They saw someone entering the gate, so they walked out of the open in gate.  Then it beeped.  I thought a tag had triggered the alarm, but the checker paid it no mind.  It appeared the gate was smart enough to tell when people were walking through it in the wrong direction.  Pretty neat technology if true.

Oregon and Washington got Fred Meyer decades before Walmart expanded here.  One of the selling points of the place is that you could get things from different sections and have only one check-out.  That's not true any more.  I hope this opioid epidemic is a passing fad, because these increased anti-shoplifting measures are annoying.

[Buck87]

Of the three Walmarts in my area that I frequent most, two have the grocery on the left and one has it on the right. It's not really a big deal, but I guess I slightly prefer the one with the grocery on the right....but probably only because that's the one I visit most often of the three.

[Scott5114]

Honestly, the fact that a corporation designed to take your money is pervasive enough that we're assumed to have mentally catalogued variations in their building design to the point that we have decided on which one is "the best" is pretty concerning.

[J N Winkler]

Honestly, the fact that a corporation designed to take your money is pervasive enough that we're assumed to have mentally catalogued variations in their building design to the point that we have decided on which one is "the best" is pretty concerning.

False consciousness is a thing.

And while we're on Marx, we may as well recall the famous quotation from the Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon--"History repeats . . . first as tragedy, then as farce"--and ask just how it is that Walmart can be substantively different from the commercial trusts of the Gilded Age.

[Jordanes]

Meijer is better 

[hbelkins]

Meijer is better 

I feel the same way about Meijer that I do about Target. Prices are higher than Walmart, so neither place is my first choice for shopping.

It also becomes a factor that there are far fewer Meijers or Targets in my area than Walmarts. There's a traditional non-Supercenter (opened in the mid 80s) Walmart where I work, but there are five Supercenters within an hour's drive. There's one Meijer an hour away, but the nearest Target is in Lexington. I'm not going to pass Walmart in Winchester or Richmond to go to Target in Lexington. Heck, I probably won't pass the Walmart on the east side of Richmond to get to Meijer, which is on the west side of I-75.

But in all honesty, if I had to choose between Meijer and Target, I'd pick Meijer.

[ErmineNotyours]

Our family supermarket in Renton, Washington was the K. U. Market, a cheap, grease pencil, independent market.  Next to it on the right was a Pay Less drug (and everything else) store, in a building that was a former Govmart Bazaar.  It was on that site they built the Seattle area's first Walmart, later turned into a Supercenter, with groceries on the left and everything else on the right.  It was strange to leave the store and see the same view as back in the K. U. Market days, but I rarely go there.

[DandyDan]

I find this question silly. The Walmart here in Mason City has a mirror image layout to the one I went to in Bellevue, NE when I lived in the Omaha area. I imagine that happens all throughout Walmart.

FWIW, the Target here has a mirror image layout with the one in Papillion, NE, or at least I can imagine it did when it opened.

[tolbs17]

I find this question silly. The Walmart here in Mason City has a mirror image layout to the one I went to in Bellevue, NE when I lived in the Omaha area. I imagine that happens all throughout Walmart.

FWIW, the Target here has a mirror image layout with the one in Papillion, NE, or at least I can imagine it did when it opened.

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.8837964,-77.5472471,3a,15.8y,107.19h,91.35t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1ssojPz5vNLNL14eH1Sw2ZpA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DsojPz5vNLNL14eH1Sw2ZpA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D132.00497%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656


https://www.google.com/maps/@35.9766447,-77.8107881,3a,42.8y,327.34h,96.49t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sq9Y_9lq2vRA6oWPAGI2VNw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Dq9Y_9lq2vRA6oWPAGI2VNw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D37.839684%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

These pictures are different layouts. I've been to the one in Rocky Mount and it's much bigger than the one in Tarboro I'm sure. It's 203,750 square feet and the one in Tarboro, idk. I know it's smaller though.

Question - how can you find the square footage of each building?

[Scott5114]

You probably could look it up on the county assessor's website if you really cared enough.

[J N Winkler]

I don't know if Trulia and Zillow list square footages for commercial buildings--they definitely do for houses.  Mapping platforms (Google Earth definitely, and probably also Google Maps) also have line and sometimes polygon measuring tools.

[crt08]

The first option is what I'm used to. Although the local Walmart is a bit different because it was originally just a Walmart that sold clothing, home items and had a garden center. Then it became a full SuperCenter with a full grocery store with service departments added on the right end.

[tolbs17]

Also, not all walmart supercenters have two entrances and a tire center.

[In_Correct]

That is certainly true. These Walmarts should not be considered Supercenters. In the 1990s there were Non Supercenter Walmarts (I Nick Name Them Walmart Microcenters.) that were large enough they added a significant grocery section which made it similar to a Dollar General Store. The One Entrance Walmart Supercenters, (I Nick Name Them Walmart Minicenters.) do not seem to be much bigger than a Dollar General Market. They have a slightly larger grocery section but even that feels cramped. These Walmarts do not have any type of miniature store in the front such as a restaurant nor a Vision Center. I used to go to Walmart Minicenters that were not open 24 hours. I do not even bother shopping at any of these Walmart Minicenters.

There are Walmart Supercenters that have Two Entrances. They have most of the features that Walmart Supercenters have, but they are still not that big. Perhaps I will Nick Name them Megacenters.

I shop at very large Walmart Supercenters. If I had to Nick Name these, they would be Hypercenters. An actual Hypermarket, some times bigger than Sam's Club. There are a few of them that not only have Vision Center but also complete Dental, Orthodontic, and Oral Surgery. They have every department, including expanded grocery departments. They have so many departments, they even brought back Fabric.

I am not concerned too much about Layout of a Walmart. I am most concerned about size. It also seems that Walmart's layout is determined by its size.

I do not see how Walmart layout can change drastically. They put the departments where ever they fit. The Grocery departments requires a large amount of unloading so it needs to be on its own side. The Automotive departments must have its own side because it has to have Traffic Lanes and Drive Thru Garages. It is possible to enter through the Automotive departments but it is technically a separate part of Walmart. It is in its own wing. You can park in one of the lanes and be greeted by a worker ready to ask about your car maintenance.

The only place to put a Garden Center is in front of Automotive Wing. Because of the traffic lanes behind it, the Garden Center is also in its own wing. Being at the front of the store, it has another front entrance. However, this entrance is not open 24 hours.

The middle of a Walmart simply has every thing else that does not need its own door. I understand how annoying it is to have Walmarts that do not have identical or even similar layouts but that is determined based on the location of the Walmart itself. The Automotive Wing is often located on a side that is easier for the customers to drive to. This is important for Walmarts located on the corner of two busy streets. The Automotive Wing would be facing one of the streets and often has its own separate entrance and exit to the street. The grocery section is located on which ever side that is the most isolated.

[tolbs17]

Layouts and design
______________________________

Before 1999

Smithfield, NC

Fayetteville, NC

Wilson, NC - was expanded, originally a discount store.

Greenville, NC - was expanded, originally a discount store.
_______________________________

1999-2005

Rocky Mount, NC

Wilmington, NC

Kinston, NC - was expanded, originally a discount store.

Jacksonville, NC - was expanded, originally a discount store.
_______________________________________

2005-2008

Rockingham, NC

Goldsboro, NC

Havelock, NC

Williamston, NC

______________________________________

2008-2016

I could be wrong, can't figure out the 2008-2009 layouts.

Raleigh, NC

Greenville, NC

______________________________________

2015-present

Sioux Falls, SD

_______________________________________

I'm pretty sure the sky-roof windows on the ceiling were used since 1997.

[Max Rockatansky]

Speaking of Walmart are they trying to receipt check everyone at all stores now?  I noticed that they have been trying at the Kings Canyon store in Fresno. 

[Big John]

And they are adding one-way electric barriers at the entrances so you have to exit through the checkouts.  They are also checking receipts where I am.

[Rothman]

Part of it may be because of the plastic bag ban?

[ozarkman417]

I don't visit Walmart all that often, but I have noticed them checking my receipt on most occasions. Sam's Club has been doing that practice for far longer. The barricades make it to the neighborhood markets here before the supercenters.

[Rothman]

They used to focus receipt checks for people who did not bag their stuff.

[Max Rockatansky]

They used to focus receipt checks for people who did not bag their stuff.

Yeah but this is a blanket thing I'm seeing, they seem to be trying with everyone. 

[J N Winkler]

I was at a Walmart Neighborhood Market last Saturday to buy six bags of Hurst's fifteen-bean soup.  It had the electric gates (not sure those were new this visit), but if there was a receipt check, I missed it.

[hbelkins]

The small, non-Supercenter WM in the town where I work checked my receipt for the first time the other day. They told me they'd had someone attempt to walk out with a couple thousand dollars worth of merchandise without paying (small appliances/housewares, mostly). I haven't been checked since. The receipt checks have been hit-and-miss at other WMs where I've shopped.

Sams Club has been doing this ever since I can remember.

[Scott5114]

A couple of months ago, the last time I went to Walmart, they wanted to receipt check me, apparently to see if I had paid for the cat litter I had bought. I declined to allow them to do so. I said "no thank you", and the lady got more strident with me, borderline demanding the receipt. I didn't have another response ready, so I just mumbled "Just a minute," and kept walking to the exit. I sort of hope that this meant loss prevention had to waste their time pulling image and finding that I didn't steal anything.

The security theater at Walmart grates on me enough that I avoid shopping there at all when I can help it. They also have these motion-activated sensors that make a loud CHING noise whenever you walk under them to try to draw your attention to the fact that you're under surveillance. Cool, I work in a casino, that's drilled into my soul at this point, so you can watch me clear my hands for the cameras while you fuck off. When you're walking up and down an aisle searching for a particular product you get chinged at over and over and over and it drove me so bonkers I left without half the items on my list once.

Pro tip, if you own a business don't make it so fucking annoying to shop there.

[Max Rockatansky]

Something new I noticed at Walmart also is an overhead page for "Security to scan X department."   We used to teach stores in really remote areas to do pages like that if they suspected that they had a shoplifter that they couldn't burn with customer service.  This was at the Walmart on Kings Canyon Road in Fresno which is a place I would have assumed would have a full Loss Prevention staff at all times.