To wrap this set up, here's a view featuring one of the strangest things about this store -- the thick greenbelt that separates the front of the store from the street (and completely blocks it from view). Not what retailers typically go for, but I'm sure there's a history here!
Coming up tomorrow -- another Macy's set! Or maybe nothing if I'm too worn out to start a new set... we'll see.
You're probably right that most retailers don't aim for having a park-like piece of wooded land in between their store and the main street, but I can think of one retailer who tried to do such a thing here in my part of Houston. Would you believe me if I said it was Wal-Mart of all stores?!
Well, believe it because it is true. In the mid-1990s, Wal-Mart opened a regular store on FM 1960 W here in Houston near Willowbrook Mall. Instead of putting the store right on FM 1960, they kept a pretty large amount of green space and built the store back behind the green space. The store was not visible at all from the main street. Around 1999-2000, the store was converted into a Wal-Mart Supercenter. Around 2015 or so, shocking news came out that Walmart was going to close that store. It always seemed like it did well so it's hard to explain why it closed other than to say that Wal-Mart opened a new Supercenter store not too far away a year prior to the closing and there were several other Walmart Supercenters in the area. Perhaps Walmart was concerned about competing with themselves or something, who knows.
Some other businesses, including a haunted house, have taken over that old Walmart space now, but the green space still remains.
If I had to guess as to why Walmart kept so much of a buffer between the road and their store, my guess would be that Wal-Mart was worried about future road expansion of FM 1960 W, which has been a very busy road for many decades, and so perhaps Wal-Mart wanted some land around the store just in case the state decided to buy the land for road expansion. There were even talks, though not serious ones I don't think, about turning FM 1960 W into a freeway at one time. The area implemented some traffic calming strategies on the road in the last couple of decades and now while the road is still very busy, it's not quite as jammed as it used to be.
You can see it from Google Maps here below. Compare the old Wal-Mart building which is set back to the neighboring Target whose parking lot is right next to the road the way just about every other store is in that area:
https://goo.gl/maps/2TgwcAuYBx36agNt8
Here's a StreetView drive into the parking lot: https://goo.gl/maps/FFa9C7wpoqZbacqb8
As for the Covid vaccine, I already got my second dose of Pfizer vaccine quite some time ago and I can't say I really had any adverse effects from either shot. My arm was a bit stiff for about a day after each shot, but it wasn't even as bad as the stiffness I usually feel after the flu shot. So, yeah, I suppose everyone reacts differently. Hopefully you'll feel better soon.
Huh, that is an interesting case! I'm not sure what the weirdest part there is -- the greenbelt, the fact that Walmart closed such a modern store, or the big fleet of Amazon trucks in the parking lot! I'm guessing they took over part of the building as a distribution center, but it's odd that there's no obvious evidence of that on the building itself.
For one reason or another, I tend to have a relatively bad reaction to vaccines in general. Everyone else I know who got it (especially the Pfizer one, which is what I got too) said they had minimal reactions to it, but that wasn't the case for me. I'm finally starting to feel a little more with it this evening, though.
I'm not sure if Amazon has any distribution stuff in that building itself. They might since perhaps the other businesses that have opened up in there don't need all the space the Walmart had to offer. There are a few shopping centers around here, including one that is relatively well leased so I don't think there would be any room for warehousing in it, that have a bunch of Amazon vans parked in their parking lots at various times. Perhaps Amazon needs some place to park some of their vans, maybe ones uses more seasonally, and they contract out to shopping centers who may not need all their parking spaces. I'm not sure.
I'm not sure if you noticed in that Streetview of the greenbelt path leading to the ex-Walmart building, but there was actually a small little park Wal-Mart made with the little lake that was there. It's really quite strange to see that at a Wal-Mart...well..what used to be a Wal-Mart at least, lol.
Huh, that's certainly odd! I have no idea where Amazon parks their vans around here, so maybe they do something like that here too. I've just never seen it myself.
Yep, that's certainly an interesting design! Seems rather out of character for Walmart, but clearly someone thought it was a good idea... it looks like there's some sort of stormwater facility in there (which may be the case for the Fred Meyer too), but that doesn't explain why it's in front of the store (in either case).
You're probably right that most retailers don't aim for having a park-like piece of wooded land in between their store and the main street, but I can think of one retailer who tried to do such a thing here in my part of Houston. Would you believe me if I said it was Wal-Mart of all stores?!
ReplyDeleteWell, believe it because it is true. In the mid-1990s, Wal-Mart opened a regular store on FM 1960 W here in Houston near Willowbrook Mall. Instead of putting the store right on FM 1960, they kept a pretty large amount of green space and built the store back behind the green space. The store was not visible at all from the main street. Around 1999-2000, the store was converted into a Wal-Mart Supercenter. Around 2015 or so, shocking news came out that Walmart was going to close that store. It always seemed like it did well so it's hard to explain why it closed other than to say that Wal-Mart opened a new Supercenter store not too far away a year prior to the closing and there were several other Walmart Supercenters in the area. Perhaps Walmart was concerned about competing with themselves or something, who knows.
Some other businesses, including a haunted house, have taken over that old Walmart space now, but the green space still remains.
If I had to guess as to why Walmart kept so much of a buffer between the road and their store, my guess would be that Wal-Mart was worried about future road expansion of FM 1960 W, which has been a very busy road for many decades, and so perhaps Wal-Mart wanted some land around the store just in case the state decided to buy the land for road expansion. There were even talks, though not serious ones I don't think, about turning FM 1960 W into a freeway at one time. The area implemented some traffic calming strategies on the road in the last couple of decades and now while the road is still very busy, it's not quite as jammed as it used to be.
You can see it from Google Maps here below. Compare the old Wal-Mart building which is set back to the neighboring Target whose parking lot is right next to the road the way just about every other store is in that area:
https://goo.gl/maps/2TgwcAuYBx36agNt8
Here's a StreetView drive into the parking lot: https://goo.gl/maps/FFa9C7wpoqZbacqb8
As for the Covid vaccine, I already got my second dose of Pfizer vaccine quite some time ago and I can't say I really had any adverse effects from either shot. My arm was a bit stiff for about a day after each shot, but it wasn't even as bad as the stiffness I usually feel after the flu shot. So, yeah, I suppose everyone reacts differently. Hopefully you'll feel better soon.
Huh, that is an interesting case! I'm not sure what the weirdest part there is -- the greenbelt, the fact that Walmart closed such a modern store, or the big fleet of Amazon trucks in the parking lot! I'm guessing they took over part of the building as a distribution center, but it's odd that there's no obvious evidence of that on the building itself.
DeleteFor one reason or another, I tend to have a relatively bad reaction to vaccines in general. Everyone else I know who got it (especially the Pfizer one, which is what I got too) said they had minimal reactions to it, but that wasn't the case for me. I'm finally starting to feel a little more with it this evening, though.
I'm not sure if Amazon has any distribution stuff in that building itself. They might since perhaps the other businesses that have opened up in there don't need all the space the Walmart had to offer. There are a few shopping centers around here, including one that is relatively well leased so I don't think there would be any room for warehousing in it, that have a bunch of Amazon vans parked in their parking lots at various times. Perhaps Amazon needs some place to park some of their vans, maybe ones uses more seasonally, and they contract out to shopping centers who may not need all their parking spaces. I'm not sure.
DeleteI'm not sure if you noticed in that Streetview of the greenbelt path leading to the ex-Walmart building, but there was actually a small little park Wal-Mart made with the little lake that was there. It's really quite strange to see that at a Wal-Mart...well..what used to be a Wal-Mart at least, lol.
I'm glad you're feeling better!
Huh, that's certainly odd! I have no idea where Amazon parks their vans around here, so maybe they do something like that here too. I've just never seen it myself.
DeleteYep, that's certainly an interesting design! Seems rather out of character for Walmart, but clearly someone thought it was a good idea... it looks like there's some sort of stormwater facility in there (which may be the case for the Fred Meyer too), but that doesn't explain why it's in front of the store (in either case).
Strange choice for sure, but I like your photo of it!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I like this view too.
Delete