We had a BEST in Mentor, Ohio that I remember shopping at as a kid. As I recall, every item (or at least most big ticket items) had a ticket attached to them that you would bring up front to pay with (or perhaps you wrote down the stock number on an order sheet). After you paid, your order was picked from the warehouse section of the store and came to the front on a roller style conveyor belt. It was a bit like waiting for your luggage at baggage claim- you'd watch other people's purchases come down the belt before yours arrived.
Sadly, the Mentor store was just a plain box and not one of the more ambitious store designs. I only learned about the bold architecture fairly recently, but even our plain store was still pretty memorable.
Worth name-checking the architect JAMES WINES, who is a true living legend. A great designer, conceptualist and thinker, way ahead of his time on environmentally friendly design, among other things.
We had a BEST in Mentor, Ohio that I remember shopping at as a kid. As I recall, every item (or at least most big ticket items) had a ticket attached to them that you would bring up front to pay with (or perhaps you wrote down the stock number on an order sheet). After you paid, your order was picked from the warehouse section of the store and came to the front on a roller style conveyor belt. It was a bit like waiting for your luggage at baggage claim- you'd watch other people's purchases come down the belt before yours arrived.
Sadly, the Mentor store was just a plain box and not one of the more ambitious store designs. I only learned about the bold architecture fairly recently, but even our plain store was still pretty memorable.
I live in the apartments right next to this church! I change my oil and rotate my tires in this parking lot!
Worth name-checking the architect JAMES WINES, who is a true living legend. A great designer, conceptualist and thinker, way ahead of his time on environmentally friendly design, among other things.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Wines
https://www.archdaily.com/778003/the-intersection-of-art-and-architecture-the-best-products-showrooms-by-site-sculpture-in-the-environment
Coming here to say the same. Wines and his firm SITE deserve credit and attention.