Walmart observations

Predicting the demise of Sears & Kmart since 2017!
cjd
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by cjd »

pseudo3d wrote: May 9th, 2019, 8:32 am I re-read my post and wanted to say that BEFORE the remodel there was the reset that added more products back. I think during the reset, the greeting cards section became the seasonal section, I remember that during the 2016 remodel, the place where the "Celebrate!" department had been removed, and I think they retired that name. The remodel also added orange Pickup parking spaces.

The garden center was accessed differently after the 2010 remodel, it used to have a section cut out in the wall on the left side of the store near hardware, and you could enter the garden center directly from the parking lot. The remodel changed it so there was a third entrance added to the store (besides the main entrance and the grocery entrance), with a large semi-enclosed vestibule with one cashier, the only entrance in and out of the garden center, and extra space which was usually used for seasonal (dorm furniture and pillows in August, larger Halloween decorations in October, etc.).
By garden center do you mean greenhouse itself or a separate, but climate controlled part of the store? At the store here what I call the indoor garden center is at the far left and can be accessed through a set of doors from the parking lot or from an opening from the main store. The only real difference is the area has a warehouse ceiling where the rest of the original store is dropped. This area mostly has BBQ grills, lawn and garden tools and such but is also switched out for Christmas displays during the season. Although sometimes lawn and garden items are stocked in the main store nearby. There are four cashier stands there too. To get to the greenhouse, you have to enter this area first and there are two sets of doors that lead out to the greenhouse. At one time, there was another set of doors to the left that would get you to the greenhouse straight from the parking lot. There was also a cashier stand out there where there is a metal roof. I guess either due to thefts or not wanting to staff that checkout they removed it. The doors are still visible but covered by plant displays on the inside and outside. The only way to access the greenhouse from outside now is at the very back, but this is primarily used for pickup of large plants or furniture paid for at the checkouts.

From my recollection at the Walmart in my old town, there was no indoor garden center but there was a separate entrance and checkstand in the greenhouse area.

Generally the newer Walmarts seem to have the indoor garden center as part of the main building, with no wall dividing the two.
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by wnetmacman »

pseudo3d wrote: May 7th, 2019, 6:32 pmI'm not sure if my Walmart has anyone cutting fabric anymore, but I seem to recall that the new area (which appeared after Project Impact, as the Walmart was expanded right in the middle of it) only has a desk at the end-cap and I don't think it's staffed regularly. In the old, pre-Impact days with the regular Wal-Mart, fabrics (and the adjacent crafts area) was an absolutely massive section with a long table and at least one person there, often two.
Most of the newer stores have a smaller fabric department with a cutting table. It isn't nearly what they had, and you have to call someone to get it cut.
cjd wrote: May 9th, 2019, 3:33 pm From my recollection at the Walmart in my old town, there was no indoor garden center but there was a separate entrance and checkstand in the greenhouse area.

Generally the newer Walmarts seem to have the indoor garden center as part of the main building, with no wall dividing the two.
The earlier division 1 stores had most of the Garden items inside, with plants and fertilizer outside. In the early Supercenter era, they put a wall between the main store and the garden area. This began going away in the very late 90's, during the Always era. From 2008-2016, Walmart also put large racking and a drive through area in most garden center builds. My local store, a 2017 build, has a very small indoor garden area, and the racking is along the outside wall, but the entrance is inside the garden fencing.
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by pseudo3d »

cjd wrote: May 9th, 2019, 3:33 pm
pseudo3d wrote: May 9th, 2019, 8:32 am I re-read my post and wanted to say that BEFORE the remodel there was the reset that added more products back. I think during the reset, the greeting cards section became the seasonal section, I remember that during the 2016 remodel, the place where the "Celebrate!" department had been removed, and I think they retired that name. The remodel also added orange Pickup parking spaces.

The garden center was accessed differently after the 2010 remodel, it used to have a section cut out in the wall on the left side of the store near hardware, and you could enter the garden center directly from the parking lot. The remodel changed it so there was a third entrance added to the store (besides the main entrance and the grocery entrance), with a large semi-enclosed vestibule with one cashier, the only entrance in and out of the garden center, and extra space which was usually used for seasonal (dorm furniture and pillows in August, larger Halloween decorations in October, etc.).
By garden center do you mean greenhouse itself or a separate, but climate controlled part of the store? At the store here what I call the indoor garden center is at the far left and can be accessed through a set of doors from the parking lot or from an opening from the main store. The only real difference is the area has a warehouse ceiling where the rest of the original store is dropped. This area mostly has BBQ grills, lawn and garden tools and such but is also switched out for Christmas displays during the season. Although sometimes lawn and garden items are stocked in the main store nearby. There are four cashier stands there too. To get to the greenhouse, you have to enter this area first and there are two sets of doors that lead out to the greenhouse. At one time, there was another set of doors to the left that would get you to the greenhouse straight from the parking lot. There was also a cashier stand out there where there is a metal roof. I guess either due to thefts or not wanting to staff that checkout they removed it. The doors are still visible but covered by plant displays on the inside and outside. The only way to access the greenhouse from outside now is at the very back, but this is primarily used for pickup of large plants or furniture paid for at the checkouts.

From my recollection at the Walmart in my old town, there was no indoor garden center but there was a separate entrance and checkstand in the greenhouse area.

Generally the newer Walmarts seem to have the indoor garden center as part of the main building, with no wall dividing the two.
By "garden center" I mean an outdoor area of the store where they keep plants. The third entrance of the store reads "Lawn & Garden" (instead of "Home & Living" or "Grocery & Pharmacy"). I guess what you're describing is the "indoor garden center" (and like your store, the "indoor garden center" area has warehouse ceilings instead of the drop ceilings of the main store) is what my store has though again, in all but the "garden season" it's usually excess seasonal merchandise. If you entered the store from this entrance, the main store doors would be dead ahead, with the garden center entrance off to the left.
2019-05-10 09_53_11-Google Earth Pro.png
Before the store was a Supercenter, there was an entrance from the outdoor garden area to the parking lot, which there still is, technically, but it's locked except for emergency use.
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by cjd »

Ah, that looks a lot like the one here, except the indoor part is a lot shorter and the outdoor part wraps around the back. It has those doors into the outdoor part also, but they can't even be used as an emergency exit like yours, because they have plants displayed in front of them.
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by pseudo3d »

I went to my local Walmart last night again. The fabric cutting desk was completely abandoned (it was 7 pm on a weekday) but the fish was fully stocked, all 18 displays and a shelf full of bettas.
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by Super S »

Stopped at a Walmart on East 4th Plain in Vancouver, WA today, which is one of the newest in the area as it is only a few years old now. Saw something interesting...the greeters were scanning ALL receipts when leaving the store with a handheld device. I have not seen the greeters doing this at any other Walmart including elsewhere in Vancouver. Made me wonder if there are theft issues.
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by arizonaguy »

Super S wrote: June 10th, 2019, 5:10 pm Stopped at a Walmart on East 4th Plain in Vancouver, WA today, which is one of the newest in the area as it is only a few years old now. Saw something interesting...the greeters were scanning ALL receipts when leaving the store with a handheld device. I have not seen the greeters doing this at any other Walmart including elsewhere in Vancouver. Made me wonder if there are theft issues.
Several of the Phoenix area Walmart stores also do this. It's the same device that they have started using at Sam's Club.
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by Brian Lutz »

I've started seeing these devices as well, although I've only had a receipt scanned once. When they scanned the receipt, they also scanned several items in the cart. It seemed like they may have only been scanning people who went through self checkout though.
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by Super S »

Update about the store that I mentioned at the beginning of the thread. I was in that location today and noticed that they installed all new LED fixtures throughout the store and it is much brighter now. As for the rest of the store, not much has changed but perhaps this means a remodel is coming. It is worth noting that the Fred Meyer down the road seems to be a lot busier, and was recently remodeled, so Walmart may be taking notice.
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by Super S »

Stopped at another Walmart in Vancouver yesterday, this one being the store at I-205 & Mill Plain (Vancouver's first Walmart) I noticed while pulling in that they had two trailers in random spots in the parking lot which had blue flashing lights and cameras on them. It made me wonder if the police department brought these in for some reason, if Walmart is having issues with existing parking lot cameras and rented these, or if theft is increasing and they wanted an easier way to add more cameras. These trailers appear to be wireless units and have solar panels on them. Yes they are noticeable, probably a main reason for having them, but they also make the lot look a bit cluttered.

It is worth noting however that this location, while they did have greeters at the doors, was not scanning every receipt as you leave like the store on East 4th Plain was.
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