We have been told that we aren’t even allowed o go to the Wal-Mart 3 miles from the gate. It is the closest store by 30 minutes and the nearest Post Exchange (as opposed to the “mini-Post Exchange at North Fort Hood) is 45 minutes or more away. But that isn’t what makes it special for a Wal-Mart.
If you have ever been to a Wal-Mart (and there are some who never have!) you know that they are frequented by people who are downtrodden, poor, “productive” family wise and sometimes immigrants or lesser educated from outward appearances. The stores tend to be large busy affairs where they sell almost everything you could want in limited selections and “everyday low Wal-Mart Prices!”
In Alabama (Ozark, Enterprise and Dothan) and California (Garden Grove, Long Beach, Clovis) the stores are hotbeds of activity. Almost like Costco in California on a Saturday when it is packed with people from open to close. Always busy, always a little frantic and always feeling like you are a small ant in a big ant pile (think Alabama red fire ants.)
Nice brown floors with wide aisles and a look sort of like an upscale Target. But (maybe it is the desolate location and deprivation) I actually associated it with a Macy’s. A new color scheme of warm inviting colors, wide aisles, attractive displays and end-caps and you want to say “Wow!”
But the real clincher was the restrooms. I am not a bathroom snob by any means. I have used the toilet stall in the condemned Boondocks building that e are using for operations. I have been in Home Depots and even Del Taco’s (can I have a token please?) But the men’s bathroom had a valance over the mirror. Clean beyond spotless. The crowds were small (granted it was in the late evening when most small towns have long since rolled up the sidewalks) the people were pleasant and over multiple visits I have come to the same conclusion: This is the nicest Wal-Mart I have ever seen or been in.
Obviously if I am relegated to writing about a large retail establishment that sells routine products….one I supposedly am forbidden from even going to regardless of my needs….and then commenting on the clean inviting atmosphere of it all one of two things is happening: I enjoy a well run retail operation and wonder why NFH isn’t run the same way….or I am becoming delusional and my psychosis is kicking in. Or maybe both.
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