Does store atmosphere/cleanliness affect your decision to shop there?

[Nice Sass]

Every time I'm in a Toys 'R Us it feels like a time warp to me; these stores haven't changed since I was kid some *ahem* years ago (it's been a while). I don't think I've ever been in an updated one. When I look around, the place always seems so drab and poorly lit, with check-outs that require massive overhauls. When I stand in line there all I can do is look around and think: When are they ever going to update this place and make it a more enjoyable experience? Despite it being a toy store, I just find it to be so depressing, so instead of lingering and actually shopping, I simply grab what I came for and get out.

Similarly, Zellers stores always seem to be so run-down. Walmart seems to continuously invest in their stores, while Zellers seems to just let theirs fall apart. The ones I visit are consistently dirty, with items all over the floor, and look like a school bus just drove through them. And their bathrooms...good grief. Would it hurt to hire someone to clean them?

Because I have two children under the age of two, it is important that I be able to fit a stroller down store aisles (if it's not somewhere with carts). So stores that don't have wide enough aisles for this (I'm thinking of you, Scholar's Choice) I have to avoid until that rare occasion that I'm able to get out sans children. If you're targeting your stores to those with children, wouldn't you think of this?

Which stores do you find to be dismal, dirty, inconvenient or otherwise just depressing in their atmosphere? Do you find that you tend to avoid or minimize your shopping at stores where the atmosphere is unappealing?

[Justine]

I find most Zellers stores to be messy, unorganized and generally depressing to shop in, at least the ones I have been to around here, I am sure others will disagree, but the ones around me are like this.

[Justine]

edit double post.

[thecountess]

I find most Zellers stores to be messy, unorganized and generally depressing to shop in, at least the ones I have been to around here, I am sure others will disagree, but the ones around me are like this.

The closest one to me can skate circles around any Walmart, the other closest one to me that's a little further away is a total dump. I make a point of not going there, although that may change if I hear it's under new management.

Often times a company will see one manager letting his/her store go and give them the boot, a new manager comes in, overhauls the place and cleans it right up making it shopable again.

To answer the original question, cleanliness and tidiness of a store absolutely affect my decision whether to shop there or not. I don't live in a filthy house and I'm not going to shop in a filthy store, where the cashiers are miserable and give you bratitude when you try to use coupons or ask a simple question about which aisle to find a product in.

[NancyM]

I find most Zellers stores to be messy, unorganized and generally depressing to shop in, at least the ones I have been to around here, I am sure others will disagree, but the ones around me are like this.

i agree with you wvwe since i can remember shopping at Zellers it's always messy when Wm is always very clean and organised

[sarajk]

It affects me more if its a grocery store.
I don't shop at price choppers from that reason.
I've only ever been in 2...one was brand new!
They are both so dingy looking that theres no way I'm buying my food there.

I'll agree that walmart looks nicer than zellers here too. But walmart is also only a few years old while Zellers is probably 25 if not more.
But I prefer Zellers because this walmarts staff has major attitude issues and are mostly incompetent.

[Evil.Kitten]

Oh yes yes yes.. If a store is dirty, items thrown about and or boxes everywhere I will NOT shop thre, I will leave..

This has actually happened to me ALOT not at older stores actually.. brand new ones [1-3 years old] Mostly in the GTA. Almost always a giant wal-mart superstore.

I went to goto the bathroom at one and there was feces all over inside one of the stalls [on the walls, seat and floor, everywhere!], There were massive boxes clogging the walkways, junk all over the floors [wrappers, packaging, clothing, etc], and there staff basically VANISH! when you want to complain.. nobody was manning the customer service desk ugh.. disgusting. [just an FYI if you really must use a public bathroom at wal-mart goto the "layaway" area at the back of the store, they have washrooms in there that people rarely use]

In my hometown [lindsay] the zellers is old.. the resturant really smells its age [hard to discribe but its the same exact smell I always smelt as a child going there]. All the items are in the same basic location. I always find myself during a long checkout line; staring up at the ceiling at the massive water stains all over or huge pieces of the ceiling missing and the piping exposed.

With zellers too I find the younger staff [maybe 16-26] they either vanish when you need something or notice you comming and haul ass in the opposite direction. Many times I've literally dropped items I was intending to buy on the electronics cashier table because the person was ignoring me [ran off, talking on the phone not acknowledging me, talking to a friend knowing that I'm there waiting etc].


It's rare to find staff that bend over backwards and treat customers with respect. It's very sad. I find myself helping other customers when staff have no clue or are being rude.

FYI does anyone ever open the door for you going into/leaving a store? I find myself always running ahead to open the door for strangers. Random people open doors for me, and I thank them properly. I'm weird but when I open doors for people and they ignore it; it bothers me.. Society is weird these days.

[Natalka]

Sure it does - but as you are seeing, it's probably not so much which chain it is, but how that individual store is run and taken care of.
I cannot stand to be in WM - it's so industrial (closest word I can find for the feeling). Also, I would never, ever go in their bathroom ever, ever again.
Our Zellers is just fine - nicely laid out, clean, taken care of, the employees are happy to be working there, it seems. WM employees seem to just push through the cattle... no one to ask questions of on the floor, as well.
Grocery stores seem to be generally really good here. There is one Safeway, though, where you can unfortunately smell (rotten) when you are anywhere near the meat department, so we avoid that one. But there are others not too far away from us.
Our Toys R Us is awesome - even though I don't go there very often, it's a relaxing place to shop.

And evil kitten, I totally agree with your last two paragraphs!!!

[Nice Sass]

I'm weird but when I open doors for people and they ignore it; it bothers me.. Society is weird these days.

When that happens to me, and it seems to happen a lot I can't help it; it's the sass in me: I wait until they've walked through the door not thanking or otherwise acknowledging me, and then shout out, "you're welcome!!!" as loud as I can. Alternatively, if they do this and are continuing in the same direction as me (as in, we're both entering or both exiting), and I'm with my kids, I'll say to my toddler, loudly, "Honey, when someone holds the door open for us it's very important that we say 'thank you' to them...this is called proper manners." Totally passive agressive, I know. But the practice bothers me.

I have to say, 99.9% of the time it's women who do this; men always seem to either get to the door first, insist that they hold it, or say thanks. The sense of entitlement seems to belong to my own gender, sadly.

Back onto topic, I thought of another one that I avoid on occasion, not because of atmosphere but because of another inconvenience: What is with SDM carts? I can't fit two children in them; I can't fit my infant car seat in them; there are never enough; and they don't have an outdoor cart return. I simply can't shop there when I have kids with me. Do you think they do this intentionally?

[renegado]

The nearest Zellers to me is first rate, but I've been to some pretty run-down Zellers, too. When I read posts from people who don't like Zellers, I always figure they're talking about one of the sleazier stores. "My" Zellers is the low-end store in a mall with high-end aspirations, so I imagine the property managers insist it maintain a certain standard of updatedness, so as not to lower the general tone. And yes, it makes a big difference to how much time and money I spend in the store.

Spaciousness and visibility are also important. High shelves and narrow aisles say "cheap" just as much as stained floors, dull lighting, wheezing refrigerators, and stale decor do. London Drugs, for example, feels like a dollar store, crammed to the rafters. The merchandise in LD looks like cheap junk compared to the same merchandise in SDM.

[Christina8717]

There are 2 Zellers in my area and one is fairly clean and organized but the one located inside our mall is run-down and dingy and smelly. There are items all over the floor and aisles and out of place and a lot of whats on the shelf is open or expired. This does not make me want to purchase ANYTHING from there!

[trinity991]

I find most Zellers stores to be messy, unorganized and generally depressing to shop in, at least the ones I have been to around here, I am sure others will disagree, but the ones around me are like this.

Completely agree! That's how the stores are here too!

[thecountess]

FYI does anyone ever open the door for you going into/leaving a store? I find myself always running ahead to open the door for strangers. Random people open doors for me, and I thank them properly. I'm weird but when I open doors for people and they ignore it; it bothers me.. Society is weird these days.

I am the same... I always hold the door for people and I always say thank you when someone does it for me.

I think it is so rude when people open it just enough for them to squeeze through quickly and let it shut. You can see in the reflection of the glass there's someone behind you....

Or when you hold the door and they don't say thank you. My bf is really bothered by this also and he will even call after people "You're welcome!"
lol

[vibrantflame]

Back onto topic, I thought of another one that I avoid on occasion, not because of atmosphere but because of another inconvenience: What is with SDM carts? I can't fit two children in them; I can't fit my infant car seat in them; there are never enough; and they don't have an outdoor cart return. I simply can't shop there when I have kids with me. Do you think they do this intentionally?

I know!! That annoys me so much too! My local Bargain Shop is also like that....it's definitely frustrating.

As for store cleanliness, yes, it absolutely affects where I shop. Even if there is a great deal somewhere, I won't shop there if the place is dirty and not well kept. I do shop occasionally at Zellers, and while our local one isn't dirty, it does look run down and the shelves are always messy. My DH hates going there because he says it makes him feel depressed lol

When I was living in Huntsville ON, I hated going to the Price Choppers there, it was always very dirty looking and a lot of meats didn't look good or were even past expiry.

But definitely I don't think it is certain "chains" as it is just individual stores. Like the Toys 'r Us we go to (in Sudbury) always seems very bright and cheerful to me, well organized, clean. Although I can't say the look of the store has changed much since I was a kid, but I kind of like that because I always thought it was a pretty cool looking store.

[Evil.Kitten]

I'm giggling too your responses would the door opening thing heh.

Yes I forgot to put that i too will yell "You're welcome!" after the person[s] that haven't acknowledged the door being held for them.

Yeah it bugs me too.. I feel like George Costanza [seinfeld woohoo!] and screaming "WE LIVE IN A SOCIETY!!!" haha=)

It's worse when the person[s] have a child and don't say anything; and people wound why kids believe they are entitled to things these days.

Oh well.