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Thread: Why do some stores have entrance and exit doors?

  1. #1
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    Why do some stores have entrance and exit doors?

    Home Depot and Lowes stores have entrance and exit doors. They try pretty hard to get customers to go in the entrance door and out the exit doors. However, other big stores don't. Department stores generally have mixed-use doors, and so do grocery stores. What's going on here?

  2. #2
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    and another question to add to the equation, is why do all grocery stores have the main drag at front of store, causing traffic issues due to pedestrians trying to get in store, people trying to park, and why does every one have to race thru a parking lot. why not have a dozen or two rows of parking then a may drag.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ric Jones View Post
    and another question to add to the equation, is why do all grocery stores have the main drag at front of store, causing traffic issues due to pedestrians trying to get in store, people trying to park, and why does every one have to race thru a parking lot. why not have a dozen or two rows of parking then a may drag.
    so fire trucks can access the building.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jamie Buxton View Post
    Home Depot and Lowes stores have entrance and exit doors. They try pretty hard to get customers to go in the entrance door and out the exit doors. However, other big stores don't. Department stores generally have mixed-use doors, and so do grocery stores. What's going on here?
    Department stores don't have people trying to get out with 12 and 16 foot long boards that they don't realize are 12 and 16 feet long, so no liability from such head knocking.

  5. #5
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    One reason for designated entrance and exit doors is to improve traffic flow - one-way traffic results in fewer collisions and less congestion. Our local Target and Best Buy both have banks of designated entrance and exit doors, although they're located next to each other: exit, exit, exit, entrance, entrance, entrance. Not surprisingly, the check-out lanes are to the left, so shoppers leaving the store can exit without crossing paths with entering customers. A couple of local supermarkets do the same thing.

    In addition to improving traffic flow, these layouts typically force/encourage shoppers to pass the cashiers on their way out, which I suspect helps reduce shoplifting.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jamie Buxton View Post
    Home Depot and Lowes stores have entrance and exit doors. They try pretty hard to get customers to go in the entrance door and out the exit doors. However, other big stores don't. Department stores generally have mixed-use doors, and so do grocery stores. What's going on here?
    Quote Originally Posted by Ric Jones View Post
    and another question to add to the equation, is why do all grocery stores have the main drag at front of store, causing traffic issues due to pedestrians trying to get in store, people trying to park, and why does every one have to race thru a parking lot. why not have a dozen or two rows of parking then a may drag.
    If you go into the contractor's entrance at Home Depot or Lowes you will see it as both entrance and exit. The others are for controlling customer flow and such. Grocery stores have a different layout plan. The most sought after items that bring people to grocery stores are milk, toilet paper and pet food. These are usually the farthest away from the doors.

    Some stores force shoppers down one aisle, usually crammed full of 'sale' items, before they can get to the main shopping floor. In one store in my area this aisle takes one as far away from the milk and other essentials as is possible.

    "Why do all grocery stores have the main drag at the front?" In my case my wife isn't too good at walking. So she gets dropped off at the front door. If we took my truck to town my tendency is to park away from the crowd due to its size. Sometimes she also waits for me to pick her up after shopping. There are also transportation agencies who regularly drop of senior citizens and others for shopping.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  7. #7
    One reason that comes to my mind why common 'either use' doors are specifically marked:
    Lawyers. The difference between 'the STORE should have put up signs' vs 'the CUSTOMER should have read the signs = who gets sued.

    The only time I've ever noticed the 'door rules' enforced was during the height of the pandemic--
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  8. #8
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    Two local Walmart stores require drivers to drive along the back side of the parking lot when you enter the lot instead of driving in front of the store. You can still drive in front of the store, but you have to drive down a row of parking to do so. It is much easier to walk into the store without dodging all the cars.

  9. #9
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    My home depots expect you to enter in the middle and go out the other end. pushing. a cart full of heavy stuff 300 feet in 100 degree weather with no shade. I ignore their signs and park near the exits and go in that way.
    I only know of one store,Target in Hemet Ca, that has a parking lot designed for pedestrians. It has raised sidewalks so people know where to walk and they can not be run down.
    Food for Less in Sun City,a retirement communtiy, has the electric scooter shopping carts at the back of the big store. We tried to get one to the front for my MIL they said she had to walk all the way back there, we could not drive it to her. She would have to drive it back to the back when done. No leaving it in the lot or at the front door. We went to another store that was smaller.
    Bill D

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    Food for Less in Sun City,a retirement communtiy, has the electric scooter shopping carts at the back of the big store. We tried to get one to the front for my MIL they said she had to walk all the way back there, we could not drive it to her. She would have to drive it back to the back when done. No leaving it in the lot or at the front door.
    It appears some manager has a hair stuck up some place where the sun don't shine.

    Maybe a visit from The American Association of People with Disabilities > https://www.aapd.com/ < would help them adjust their attitude.

    Many of the grocery stores here have well marked pedestrian crossings in front of the stores. Some actually have STOP signs for both directions of traffic.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  11. #11
    My guess is that they want the regular customers to go in the back way so that well dressed hired fake customers will attract toney high
    rollers.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mel Fulks View Post
    My guess is that they want the regular customers to go in the back way so that well dressed hired fake customers will attract toney high
    rollers.
    We can always rely on you for the bsc response, more likely it's the same reason most big retailers do it. Security, having everyone exit thru the same door which requires you to go thru the checkout cuts down on theft.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Dufour View Post
    My home depots expect you to enter in the middle and go out the other end. pushing. a cart full of heavy stuff 300 feet in 100 degree weather with no shade. I ignore their signs and park near the exits and go in that way.
    I just park near the exit at one local Home Depot that has the exit a ways from the entrance. I would rather walk a little bit when I have no cart than when I have a cart full of stuff. Other Home Depots have the entrance and exit close together.

  14. #14
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    HD's doors have the entry/exit designation respectively, but they have sensors that let folks go either direction. If I need the tools, paint or anything in the "center" of the store, I honestly go in through the exit doors which as self-checkout and plenty of space to walk through to go directly where I'm headed. I usually park at the exit end which makes getting my purchases to my vehicle faster and easier after checkout. Lowe's on the other hand, has their exit doors on-way without invoking a Harry Potter style spell. I don't shop at Lowes as much...it's more Professor Dr. SWMBO's preference. They also have so much merchandise actually "in" the parking lot that getting a good spot is harder, especially with Tar-Zhey immediately next door and sharing the parking lot for some level of overlap.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  15. #15
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    My parking strategy at Home Depot or Lowes depends on what is being purchased.

    For the local Lowes there are trees for shade near the "contractor doors" so if lumber or anything at that end of the store is on the list that is where the truck is parked.

    If the wife wants to look at garden stuff in the spring, park there.

    If center store items are being purchased, then the truck gets parked somewhere convenient to the center exit.

    Similar when shopping Home Depot but there really isn't much shade in their parking lot.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

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