Which Walmart layout is the best?

[LM117]

The one I don't have to go to. 

On a more serious note I absolutely despise shopping at Walmart.  I attribute this to a couple things; the crappy parking layouts which don't encourage ease of parking in the back lot, extremely slow cashiers and a general atmosphere of clutter which I find claustrophobic.

Same. I don't mind going to the Walmart Neighborhood Market stores (even though cashiers are practically non-existent here), but I try to avoid the supercenters as much as I can. I'd rather spend the extra bucks at Target. Sure, they're more expensive, but at least I'd still have my sanity intact.

[Max Rockatansky]

The one I don't have to go to. 

On a more serious note I absolutely despise shopping at Walmart.  I attribute this to a couple things; the crappy parking layouts which don't encourage ease of parking in the back lot, extremely slow cashiers and a general atmosphere of clutter which I find claustrophobic.

Same. I don't mind going to the Walmart Neighborhood Market stores (even though cashiers are practically non-existent here), but I try to avoid the supercenters as much as I can. I'd rather spend the extra bucks at Target. Sure, they're more expensive, but at least I'd still have my sanity intact.

Fortunately I've found purchasing general goods to be infinitely more easier and not really all that more expensive than Walmart on Amazon and by careful browsing.  I hardly ever venture into a General Retailer these days but I definitely prefer Target.   Target rates their cashiers on efficiency which speeds up the process considerably.  There is definitely a cleaner atmosphere and the employees are far more approachable.  Most Target stores still even have the help phone stations that can be used to summon an employee for assistance.  I want say some even still have a receptionist which usually also dual attends the fitting room. 

[SectorZ]

Yes, pretty much most walmarts have them but the one on 10th where I live doesn't have them.

Most Walmarts do not have them. I've only seen them at one location.

I'm talking about these things.

I was wondering what people were talking about with that. I know the one in Hudson MA I was in recently had them.

Hope to God there isn't a fire, shooting, or something that involves a panic with those things and they fail to open. I presume a fire alarm auto-opens them, but I never assume anything at a Walmart either working as it should or be engineered to optimize customer safety. 

[hotdogPi]

Hope to God there isn't a fire, shooting, or something that involves a panic with those things and they fail to open. I presume a fire alarm auto-opens them, but I never assume anything at a Walmart either working as it should or be engineered to optimize customer safety.

You can get through them (over or under), but it's obvious when someone does it.

[jeffandnicole]

Yes, pretty much most walmarts have them but the one on 10th where I live doesn't have them.

Most Walmarts do not have them. I've only seen them at one location.

I'm talking about these things.

I was wondering what people were talking about with that. I know the one in Hudson MA I was in recently had them.

Hope to God there isn't a fire, shooting, or something that involves a panic with those things and they fail to open. I presume a fire alarm auto-opens them, but I never assume anything at a Walmart either working as it should or be engineered to optimize customer safety. 

Why?  Is there some sort of precedent you have to worry about this?  It appears there's been more issues at colleges and office buildings, where there is a high level of knowledge and smartness, than at a local Walmart.  Do you think people would just be standing there crowding the gate, not going around it, over or under it?  The Walmarts have the same inspections that every other store and business has, and everything in a store is done in such a way to make sure the store can be evacuated quickly.  It may not seem like it, but most people that have been evacuated don't realize they were evacuated quickly and safely.  We often see them standing outside, complaining to the news media that "they had no idea what to do" and "no one told them what to do". And yet, they're in the parking lot, away from the danger, uninjured.  They in fact did exactly what was supposed to be done - they got out, and quickly.  The store and its layout attributed to that.

I also wonder about the level of customer smartness.  Do you go into stores looking for fire exits and other means of escape if something were to happen? Or are you relying on a 17 year old working a register to tell you what to do in the event of a fire?  Something like this should've been engrained in you since pre-school - if you see smoke or fire, walk to the nearest exit.  It's surprising how often people will cry that no one told them what to do.  These are people that manage to go on their daily life, raising families, driving cars they've been given very little instruction how to drive, but yet have no idea what to do when a building is on fire.

[J N Winkler]

Why?  Is there some sort of precedent you have to worry about this?  It appears there's been more issues at colleges and office buildings, where there is a high level of knowledge and smartness, than at a local Walmart.  Do you think people would just be standing there crowding the gate, not going around it, over or under it?

Given Walmart's history of holding doorbuster sales that have resulted in fatalities, I don't think it's unreasonable to view the gates with suspicion.  The issue is not that they absolutely prohibit passage, but that they create delay.  If something happens in a store that causes panic at a time when it is very crowded, this can easily result in a crush, and at that point all it takes is for someone to fall and then be trampled to death.

[Max Rockatansky]

Yes, pretty much most walmarts have them but the one on 10th where I live doesn't have them.

Most Walmarts do not have them. I've only seen them at one location.

I'm talking about these things.

I was wondering what people were talking about with that. I know the one in Hudson MA I was in recently had them.

Hope to God there isn't a fire, shooting, or something that involves a panic with those things and they fail to open. I presume a fire alarm auto-opens them, but I never assume anything at a Walmart either working as it should or be engineered to optimize customer safety. 

Why?  Is there some sort of precedent you have to worry about this?  It appears there's been more issues at colleges and office buildings, where there is a high level of knowledge and smartness, than at a local Walmart.  Do you think people would just be standing there crowding the gate, not going around it, over or under it?  The Walmarts have the same inspections that every other store and business has, and everything in a store is done in such a way to make sure the store can be evacuated quickly.  It may not seem like it, but most people that have been evacuated don't realize they were evacuated quickly and safely.  We often see them standing outside, complaining to the news media that "they had no idea what to do" and "no one told them what to do". And yet, they're in the parking lot, away from the danger, uninjured.  They in fact did exactly what was supposed to be done - they got out, and quickly.  The store and its layout attributed to that.

I also wonder about the level of customer smartness.  Do you go into stores looking for fire exits and other means of escape if something were to happen? Or are you relying on a 17 year old working a register to tell you what to do in the event of a fire?  Something like this should've been engrained in you since pre-school - if you see smoke or fire, walk to the nearest exit.  It's surprising how often people will cry that no one told them what to do.  These are people that manage to go on their daily life, raising families, driving cars they've been given very little instruction how to drive, but yet have no idea what to do when a building is on fire.

Even in emergency situations people tend to use main entryways to buildings even if a fire exit or easier means of escape is closer.  I've been trying to figure out for years why this has been the case, it seems nothing but repeated drills can have a "minimal"  impact on correcting this behavior, but that is with employee staff...customers would be a wild card.  Hasn't Walmart had a couple recent incidents of active shooters?  Does anyone know how well the stores fared during those evacuations? 

[vdeane]

I suspect it has something to do with "ease of getting back into the building when the incident is over".

[DaBigE]

Hope to God there isn't a fire, shooting, or something that involves a panic with those things and they fail to open. I presume a fire alarm auto-opens them, but I never assume anything at a Walmart either working as it should or be engineered to optimize customer safety.

You can get through them (over or under), but it's obvious when someone does it.

Walmart's gates are no more dangerous than the turnstiles they seem to put in all Menards stores.

Like most of the newer automatic swing doors, I bet the gates are breakaway to allow for emergency egress. We used to have such doors at the grocery store I worked at. Cart pushers figured that out, got lazy, and would push the normally inwards swinging door out when they went back out to the parking lot. It was kinda fun watching the door reset itself.

I find it kinda funny to see these gates coming back into use, as I remember many Walgreens used to have them when I was growing up then took them out. They were much louder and had the big pneumatic "doormat" button to open them.



[rant] I get Walmart is controversial, but can we leave the 'evil Walmarts' and 'any Walmart is a bad Walmart' et al for a different thread? Don't like 'em, then don't shop there, but the rest of us weren't asking for your shopping habits. The OP left those options out for a reason. [/rant]

Back on the original topic, I can't say I really have a preference as to right vs left sides. For whatever reason, I like the Pharmacy with the Home and not with the Grocery. I'm guessing this stems from Grocery being a tack-on to many existing stores, so Pharmacy already was in a set position.

[SectorZ]

Yes, pretty much most walmarts have them but the one on 10th where I live doesn't have them.

Most Walmarts do not have them. I've only seen them at one location.

I'm talking about these things.

I was wondering what people were talking about with that. I know the one in Hudson MA I was in recently had them.

Hope to God there isn't a fire, shooting, or something that involves a panic with those things and they fail to open. I presume a fire alarm auto-opens them, but I never assume anything at a Walmart either working as it should or be engineered to optimize customer safety. 

Why?  Is there some sort of precedent you have to worry about this?  It appears there's been more issues at colleges and office buildings, where there is a high level of knowledge and smartness, than at a local Walmart.  Do you think people would just be standing there crowding the gate, not going around it, over or under it?  The Walmarts have the same inspections that every other store and business has, and everything in a store is done in such a way to make sure the store can be evacuated quickly.  It may not seem like it, but most people that have been evacuated don't realize they were evacuated quickly and safely.  We often see them standing outside, complaining to the news media that "they had no idea what to do" and "no one told them what to do". And yet, they're in the parking lot, away from the danger, uninjured.  They in fact did exactly what was supposed to be done - they got out, and quickly.  The store and its layout attributed to that.

I also wonder about the level of customer smartness.  Do you go into stores looking for fire exits and other means of escape if something were to happen? Or are you relying on a 17 year old working a register to tell you what to do in the event of a fire?  Something like this should've been engrained in you since pre-school - if you see smoke or fire, walk to the nearest exit.  It's surprising how often people will cry that no one told them what to do.  These are people that manage to go on their daily life, raising families, driving cars they've been given very little instruction how to drive, but yet have no idea what to do when a building is on fire.

The Station Nightclub Fire. That is my answer to your ridiculous assumption that customers are going to seek out fire exits or do some sort of Mega Man powerslide under that gate and get trampled to death in the process.

I also worked at a Walmart for 5 years, and watched my local FD M-F them over how often they blocked fire exits because they just really didn't care about keeping those egresses consistently clear. Taking the emergency routes is not always an option due to the laziness of the establishment.

And yes, after the Station Nightclub fire, I do routinely pay attention to emergency exit routes, something I never took seriously until that point.

[kphoger]

As for which section is on which side of the store...  I imagine it should depend on where the receiving dock is, and that would depend on more things than just the building layout.  I therefore refuse to suggest that one is inherently better than the other.

As for doors...  The idea is to avoid crossing streams of people.  Shoppers leaving the registers and headed out to the parking lot go through the doors that are closest to the middle of the store.  Shoppers just arriving come in through the doors that are farthest from the middle of the store.  Allowing the automatic doors to open from either side just means that a person trying to go through the wrong side won't create a traffic jam.  If 80% of entering customers use the correct door and 20% of them use the wrong one, then that's still an improvement over no signage at all.

As for receipt checks...  I understand checking receipts or items not in bags:  large items, typically.  If all my items have been properly bagged, then leave me alone unless you suspect I've shoplifted something.

As for bathrooms...  I've gotten used to bathrooms being in the front of large stores lately, so that's what I've come to expect.  Also, they're generally easier to spot in the front of the store.  When a bathroom is in the back of the store, it's often hidden from general view down some aisle or another.

As for shopping at Wal-Mart in general...  How much I like it depends greatly on which store I'm in.  I like Supercenters that are out in the suburbs, because they tend to be less crowded, have a smaller percentage of obnoxious clientele, be newer construction, and have better parking.

[jeffandnicole]

The Station Nightclub Fire. That is my answer to your ridiculous assumption that customers are going to seek out fire exits or do some sort of Mega Man powerslide under that gate and get trampled to death in the process.

I also worked at a Walmart for 5 years, and watched my local FD M-F them over how often they blocked fire exits because they just really didn't care about keeping those egresses consistently clear. Taking the emergency routes is not always an option due to the laziness of the establishment.

And yes, after the Station Nightclub fire, I do routinely pay attention to emergency exit routes, something I never took seriously until that point.

You pretty much feel into the assumption I expected - most people will site examples of other places where they had issues getting out, but not Walmarts.

I never said I assume people will seek out the exits when they go into into a store.  Most people don't.  The fact that you now pay attention means you are indeed more knowledgeable than most about where to go in the event of an emergency.

Walmart's gates are no more dangerous than the turnstiles they seem to put in all Menards stores.

Like most of the newer automatic swing doors, I bet the gates are breakaway to allow for emergency egress. We used to have such doors at the grocery store I worked at. Cart pushers figured that out, got lazy, and would push the normally inwards swinging door out when they went back out to the parking lot. It was kinda fun watching the door reset itself.

I find it kinda funny to see these gates coming back into use, as I remember many Walgreens used to have them when I was growing up then took them out. They were much louder and had the big pneumatic "doormat" button to open them.

Exactly. While they are there to prevent - or at least slow down - a shoplifter or someone trying to get away, they are built for a mass evacuation.  Stores have had such theft-prevention devices in the past, but people are more than willing to site the monsters of the industries for some reason.

Think about this - nearly every store is designed to have doors open out, so when you leave, all you have to do is push on the door.  But even if the doors are designed not to open for a wrong way walker, or are sliding, or are revolving doors, they are almost all designed to do one thing - if someone pushes on them hard enough, they will swing open outwardly.

Now, thing about this - when you leave your home, which way does your house door open?  Most likely - inwards.  A person's house is almost always harder to leave, because if it's locked, you have to unlock it, then you have to pull it open.  For businesses, these are all generally illegal construction methods.

(Yes, some older stores have doors that open in.  There are some exceptions, so let's not nitpick on those)

So don't worry about running out of the Walmart if there's a fire or mass shooting.  You're going to get out.

Hasn't Walmart had a couple recent incidents of active shooters?  Does anyone know how well the stores fared during those evacuations? 

I'd go with the "no news is good news' scenario here.  If people couldn't get out, it'll be the 2nd day front page news.  The fact that most got out without an issue is a good thing.

Given Walmart's history of holding doorbuster sales that have resulted in fatalities, I don't think it's unreasonable to view the gates with suspicion.

Fatalities?  There's 1 on record.  And there's been numerous other stampedes that have resulted in death not involving Walmart.

[DaBigE]

Walmart's gates are no more dangerous than the turnstiles they seem to put in all Menards stores.

Like most of the newer automatic swing doors, I bet the gates are breakaway to allow for emergency egress. We used to have such doors at the grocery store I worked at. Cart pushers figured that out, got lazy, and would push the normally inwards swinging door out when they went back out to the parking lot. It was kinda fun watching the door reset itself.

I find it kinda funny to see these gates coming back into use, as I remember many Walgreens used to have them when I was growing up then took them out. They were much louder and had the big pneumatic "doormat" button to open them.

Exactly. While they are there to prevent - or at least slow down - a shoplifter or someone trying to get away, they are built for a mass evacuation.  Stores have had such theft-prevention devices in the past, but people are more than willing to site the monsters of the industries for some reason.

Think about this - nearly every store is designed to have doors open out, so when you leave, all you have to do is push on the door.  But even if the doors are designed not to open for a wrong way walker, or are sliding, or are revolving doors, they are almost all designed to do one thing - if someone pushes on them hard enough, they will swing open outwardly.

Now, thing about this - when you leave your home, which way does your house door open?  Most likely - inwards.  A person's house is almost always harder to leave, because if it's locked, you have to unlock it, then you have to pull it open.  For businesses, these are all generally illegal construction methods.

The emergency egress (breakout) feature almost works a little too well at times. If only I had a nickel for every time I had to reset the sliding doors every time someone bashed a cart into them, causing the door to stop functioning. Our store also had an automatic revolving door that had the same breakout function...all panels folded flat in the direction of egress. That one was a bigger pain, because no one ever liked the speed of the door, got frustrated, and pushed the panel loose.

Hell, our public library used to have manual versions of the "Walmart gates". They could be very easily pushed in the direction of egress, if needed.

[Max Rockatansky]

At this point I'm just happy that Mega Man and his slide move got a reference.

[Henry]

FWIW, I too prefer Target over Walmart. Better quality, and none of the insane shit that goes on at their rival (gates at the entrances? Come on!).

[tolbs17]

This is an old picture but it looks nice. It's from 2006.



This is the design we have right now (although some are half-renovated and not complete). This picture is from 2018.

[tdindy88]

Reading all of this reminds me of why I like the fact that we have Meijer in the Midwest. None of this gate stuff and people checking your receipts at the door. It's a little more relaxed. And the design of the store is pretty similar to the Walmart.

Back to Walmart, I do like seeing the state flag in the store and it reminded me of something that I have missed in the past few years with Walmart remodeling themselves. I remember leaving a Walmart years ago and seeing the following words "Thank you for shopping at your Indianapolis Walmart," and the city name would be replaced with wherever you were. Traveling around the country it was neat seeing other town names in their place. Gave it a little of a personal touch.

Now I think they've gotten rid of that. Meanwhile, the newer Meijer stores have something similar when you enter the store "Welcome to your Indianapolis Meijer," again using the different town names depending on the store's location.

[Max Rockatansky]

Reading all of this reminds me of why I like the fact that we have Meijer in the Midwest. None of this gate stuff and people checking your receipts at the door. It's a little more relaxed. And the design of the store is pretty similar to the Walmart.

Back to Walmart, I do like seeing the state flag in the store and it reminded me of something that I have missed in the past few years with Walmart remodeling themselves. I remember leaving a Walmart years ago and seeing the following words "Thank you for shopping at your Indianapolis Walmart," and the city name would be replaced with wherever you were. Traveling around the country it was neat seeing other town names in their place. Gave it a little of a personal touch.

Now I think they've gotten rid of that. Meanwhile, the newer Meijer stores have something similar when you enter the store "Welcome to your Indianapolis Meijer," again using the different town names depending on the store's location.

Regarding Meijer Stores they've had that local flair thing going on since they the 1990s.  Even back then there was always a seasonal section which carried items of local interest.  I always went to Meijer to buy things like my sports teams hats or an occasional localized gift when I went back to Michigan. 

[doorknob60]

Has anyone else seen a Walmart with European-style automatic gates as you walk in that guard the entryway? These force you to exit through the registers.

The Walmart in Boise just installed these in the past month or 2. Seemed to be causing a lot of confusion, understandably (no other stores I've been to here have anything like it). That was already the busiest Walmart (and busiest retail store besides Costco) in the area, now even more reason to avoid it. Not sure if any other area stores have installed them. I don't mind going to the Walmarts in Meridian when I'm in the area though (particularly the Ten Mile one and Overland one; the Fairview one is pretty busy), they're much less crowded and newer.

I'd shop at Target more, but they're farther from home and next to the mall where traffic sucks. Also their grocery section is limited (like old pre-Supercenter Walmarts). Fred Meyer is great (and closer to me than Walmart and Target) but for some general merchandise stuff they are more expensive. Sometimes I just want something cheap that will get the job done, and that often only leaves Target and Walmart. For just groceries, Winco is a great option (though not as close to home as Albertsons, Fred Meyer, and about the same to Walmart), but I usually just go to Albertsons because they're the most convenient to me and are never crowded.

By the way, I voted option 2. That's the layout of the Boise Walmart and the 2 newer Meridian ones (I don't remember the layout at Garden City, it's been a while). Also the one in South Nampa I used to visit often. Even Bend had that layout when I lived there (after they remodeled it to a Supercenter). The one in Meridian on Fairview is mirrored, and I'm not used to that layout as much.

[kphoger]

What are these European-style automatic gates?  Pictures?

[tolbs17]

Reading all of this reminds me of why I like the fact that we have Meijer in the Midwest. None of this gate stuff and people checking your receipts at the door. It's a little more relaxed. And the design of the store is pretty similar to the Walmart.

Back to Walmart, I do like seeing the state flag in the store and it reminded me of something that I have missed in the past few years with Walmart remodeling themselves. I remember leaving a Walmart years ago and seeing the following words "Thank you for shopping at your Indianapolis Walmart," and the city name would be replaced with wherever you were. Traveling around the country it was neat seeing other town names in their place. Gave it a little of a personal touch.

Now I think they've gotten rid of that. Meanwhile, the newer Meijer stores have something similar when you enter the store "Welcome to your Indianapolis Meijer," again using the different town names depending on the store's location.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanrules/3712321532/in/photostream/

I'm sure you're talking about this. Yeah, I think this was better than what they have now. They should say "Thank you for shopping at your Greenville Walmart" or something rather than "Thank you for shopping at Walmart".

[cl94]

What are these European-style automatic gates?  Pictures?

I'm talking about these things.

[kphoger]

Seriously??  That link has been there all along??   

[ftballfan]

Not Walmart, but the following Meijers I have been to have different layouts:

Manistee has grocery on the right, home and pharmacy on the left, and bottle return through an outside door on the right. Gaines Township is the same way, except bottle return is inside the main door.

Cascade and Carpenter Rd (Ypsilanti/Ann Arbor) have grocery on the left and pharmacy on the right. Carpenter Road has bottle return in the very back and I'm not sure where bottle return is in Cascade

[tchafe1978]

I work at a Walmart, and I think my store's layout makes perfect sense, as that's what I'm used to. I go into other stores and they seem bass-ackwards, especially the ones that have the opposite layout from my store. My store has the grocery on the left, apparel in the middle, and home and pharmacy on the right, and pets way in the front right corner. One other store near me has the grocery and home and pharmacy sides swapped from my store layout. Another store near me to the grocery on the left and home and pharmacy on the right, but pets is in the back of the store adjacent to grocery, which is where my store's infants department is. I get many customers who obviously shop other stores more than ours, and will ask where the pets department is while standing in grocery. I have to point them to the waaaaaaaay opposite corner of the store, which literally feels like a mile walk away.