My first glimpse of this store's new interior (which other retail folks have dubbed "Airport", since Walmart talks a lot about it being "airport-inspired", somehow) was, well... a bit odd. The cart well has this big sign identifying it as the "cart park" (a phrase that sounds vaguely British), along with diagonal blue-and-white striping that doesn't match anything else in this decor. Does anyone know if this is actually a standard Airport item? I'm wondering because I haven't seen it in any of the other Walmart Airport sets I've seen, and it seems distinctive enough that people would have noted it.
I really don't see how this looks like an airport. Maybe I'm missing something here. It does, however, look like the failed discount store chain Venture. We had Ventures here in Houston. In fact, it was their failed expansion into Texas that probably doomed the chain. I did shop there during their brief stay here in the mid-1990s. Here's a Midwest Venture with the stripes: https://flickr.com/photos/32293419@N04/40402327552/
ReplyDeleteHa! I don't feel like the airport inspiration is particularly obvious, but luckily, this piece is not at all like the rest of the decor here.
DeleteGranted, I don't go to airports, but Walmart's explanation made enough sense to me: the idea is that the signage at airports is designed huge and easily legible so that people can find where they need to go, and get there, quickly. Lots of directional emphasis. Not that Walmart wants to force its shoppers in and out, but it sounds like they recognized frustration in customers' inability to find things. There certainly seem to be more signs than before, and they're all very large and have arrows on them. Here is one article with their discussion in it: https://www.today.com/today/amp/tdna192975 (You'll note that they also place a lot of emphasis on the changes being smartphone-driven... I like that explanation less, lol, but can't deny it also makes sense in the context. Especially the app icon version of their logo on the exterior...)
ReplyDeleteAll that said... no, while I've only been in one Airport Walmart so far, I've not seen this feature before. Interesting. The stripes fit in more than the (agreeably very British) name.
Honestly, I think my problem is that I've spent far too much time in (or looking at) airports over the years, and this doesn't line up with what I'm used to seeing at airports. If I had to pick out one thing in specific that doesn't feel right, it's that there's just far too much signage competing for your attention, particularly along the non-grocery actionways. But perhaps I'll get into that more when we get to that part of the store.
DeleteI suppose I'll have to see how the interior of this store looks through NW Retail's photos. But, yeah, I've been in a number of airports before, domestic and international, and I'm certainly not expecting much in this Walmart to look like those airports, lol.
DeleteThe last non-Houston airport I've been to was the Calgary airport and I can't say I was a fan of them putting the duty free shop such that one has to walk through it to get from ticketing to the gates! It was a pretty nice airport otherwise though and that's where I flew out on a WestJet 737-600.
Oh man, I hate those walk-through duty free shops! Especially since they always seem to have lots of perfumes, and I can't stand that amount of scent anymore. But still, if I ever get around to longer-distance travel again, I'm totally going to have some posts about actual airports! 🙂
DeleteInteresting -- well I suppose I'd trust the airport expert's opinion on that, then, haha!
DeleteHa -- I'm probably just being too literal about it!
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