I am continually amazed at my local True Value hardware store. The footprint is pretty small and parking is tight, but they have virtually everything a home depot has (and a MUCH better supply of stainless steel fasteners, something I shop for a lot and a propane refill station that big boxes don't have), except for lumber (intentionally not their wheelhouse). Sure you may only have one choice of shop vac, but sometimes that choice is daunting. And as Strong Towns always points out much more of that revenue stays in the local community.
It's a tougher question than it seems at first. On a pure convenience/laziness basis of absolutely minimizing thought and effort, you can't beat the car suburb/big-box combo. But this results in a much flatter, less pleasant, less active, less communal etc. human experience. And I think most people see this pretty quickly once they're actually exposed to the contrast. Tourists visit cute shopping streets in old neighborhoods, they visit Manhattan, they visit ancient European towns and medieval urban cores, but nobody goes to visit the shopping center off Exit 30.
Inertia and laziness are powerful forces however. It's like in Wall-E how the humans spent 700 years floating around in chairs with screens in their faces, to the extent that even noticing the stars was a revelation.
I think a lot of the convenience of the superstore comes in aggregating check-out. If you go to five stores on Main Street, that's waiting in line five times, pulling out your credit card five times, gathering five sets of bags. You carry bags from one store to another.
You go to one superstore, you check out once, you carry your stuff from department to department in a cart, you put all the stuff in fewer bags, then carry it to the car in your cart.
Of course, if you only want stuff from one department, it's more convenient on Main Street, where the advantages of the superstore disappear, but Main St has the advantage of check-out being 50' away.
I have long believed in the idea of optimal store size.
My local hardware store has employees that fetch what I want. It has nearly everything Home Depot has, for about 10% higher prices. But the time savings is roughly 35 minutes each trip, plus 25 minutes driving. Total annual savings is approximately 30 hours.
I frequent 2 smaller supermarkets for my shopping, which forgo the now-usual middle aisles of clothes and other crapola. It doesn't hurt that some older, smaller stores are where the grocery empires place their discount store brands. A bi-weekly shop in my smaller, preferred stores take 35 minutes, the larger ones at least 50. That's annual savings of at least 25 hours.
I am a gonzo-busy person, such large available time savings can't be ignored.
Some of the problem lies with the management of Supercenters themselves -- the appearance of the store is part of its identity. So there are philosophical and financial issues in designing Supercenters that fit a different environment than flat suburban land. I live in Montgomery County, MD, home of the first two story Target store with an escalator. The County spent YEARS in the 1990s trying to convince Target to have an escalator, one that also worked for shopping carts. Now, of course, these escalators are ubiquitous, especially for urban areas, and Target has them all over the place.
Thanks for responding to my comment! With a whole article, haha. I agree that urbanism isn't eating your vegetables - I find many aspects of it pleasant and convenient. I love living in a place where my kids can walk to nearly all of their activities, and if they have to go further there's a bus or safe biking routes available. This seems so much more convenient to me than driving everywhere and anywhere. And I think your point on the inconvenience of a big box store rings true - I HATE costco. It very much is an "eating your vegetables" trip to me. Love this post!
I am continually amazed at my local True Value hardware store. The footprint is pretty small and parking is tight, but they have virtually everything a home depot has (and a MUCH better supply of stainless steel fasteners, something I shop for a lot and a propane refill station that big boxes don't have), except for lumber (intentionally not their wheelhouse). Sure you may only have one choice of shop vac, but sometimes that choice is daunting. And as Strong Towns always points out much more of that revenue stays in the local community.
It's a tougher question than it seems at first. On a pure convenience/laziness basis of absolutely minimizing thought and effort, you can't beat the car suburb/big-box combo. But this results in a much flatter, less pleasant, less active, less communal etc. human experience. And I think most people see this pretty quickly once they're actually exposed to the contrast. Tourists visit cute shopping streets in old neighborhoods, they visit Manhattan, they visit ancient European towns and medieval urban cores, but nobody goes to visit the shopping center off Exit 30.
Inertia and laziness are powerful forces however. It's like in Wall-E how the humans spent 700 years floating around in chairs with screens in their faces, to the extent that even noticing the stars was a revelation.
I think a lot of the convenience of the superstore comes in aggregating check-out. If you go to five stores on Main Street, that's waiting in line five times, pulling out your credit card five times, gathering five sets of bags. You carry bags from one store to another.
You go to one superstore, you check out once, you carry your stuff from department to department in a cart, you put all the stuff in fewer bags, then carry it to the car in your cart.
Of course, if you only want stuff from one department, it's more convenient on Main Street, where the advantages of the superstore disappear, but Main St has the advantage of check-out being 50' away.
I have long believed in the idea of optimal store size.
My local hardware store has employees that fetch what I want. It has nearly everything Home Depot has, for about 10% higher prices. But the time savings is roughly 35 minutes each trip, plus 25 minutes driving. Total annual savings is approximately 30 hours.
I frequent 2 smaller supermarkets for my shopping, which forgo the now-usual middle aisles of clothes and other crapola. It doesn't hurt that some older, smaller stores are where the grocery empires place their discount store brands. A bi-weekly shop in my smaller, preferred stores take 35 minutes, the larger ones at least 50. That's annual savings of at least 25 hours.
I am a gonzo-busy person, such large available time savings can't be ignored.
Some of the problem lies with the management of Supercenters themselves -- the appearance of the store is part of its identity. So there are philosophical and financial issues in designing Supercenters that fit a different environment than flat suburban land. I live in Montgomery County, MD, home of the first two story Target store with an escalator. The County spent YEARS in the 1990s trying to convince Target to have an escalator, one that also worked for shopping carts. Now, of course, these escalators are ubiquitous, especially for urban areas, and Target has them all over the place.
Thanks for responding to my comment! With a whole article, haha. I agree that urbanism isn't eating your vegetables - I find many aspects of it pleasant and convenient. I love living in a place where my kids can walk to nearly all of their activities, and if they have to go further there's a bus or safe biking routes available. This seems so much more convenient to me than driving everywhere and anywhere. And I think your point on the inconvenience of a big box store rings true - I HATE costco. It very much is an "eating your vegetables" trip to me. Love this post!