# Grocery stores are changing and its making shopping much more difficult for disabled and elderly. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 8, 2015, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-stores-are-changing-and-its-making-shopping-much-more-difficult-for-disabled-and-elderly/717138 "2015-04-08T16:51:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-stores-are-changing-and-its-making-shopping-much-more-difficult-for-disabled-and-elderly/717138/21 "2015-04-08T18:42:37Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > If you think that the store layout should be for the ease of shopping, marketing people are laughing at you. Here is a short article explaining this. People have reacted to this by switching to convenience stores, dollar stores, limited assortment stores, drugstores… for small shopping trips. And I think online grocery shopping could really take off for this reason. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-stores-are-changing-and-its-making-shopping-much-more-difficult-for-disabled-and-elderly/717138/22 "2015-04-08T19:05:33Z")
I don’t see how someone in a wheelchair can even navigate some of the passageways in my local Ralphs (Kroger). It is downtown, so there are space issues, but it’s still ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-stores-are-changing-and-its-making-shopping-much-more-difficult-for-disabled-and-elderly/717138/23 "2015-04-08T19:10:54Z")
Thanks, never knew what that center isle was for, it always seemed awkward to me with all that end shelf space and ability to switch lanes, it was hard to keep track. But to address your issue, If not already, there will be a app for that. Just put in your list and use the app to route you the most efficient way through the store. BTW I love that ACE hardware commercial stating one should not need a GPS to find the fertilizer. ---
**Author:** ![MoonMoon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonmoon/32/2959_2.png) [@MoonMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonMoon)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-stores-are-changing-and-its-making-shopping-much-more-difficult-for-disabled-and-elderly/717138/24 "2015-04-08T19:14:47Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I had to stop and picture what “a center aisle that runs horizontally across the width of the store” even looks like. > > I think I’ve got it, but if so I’ve never in my life seen a grocery store laid out that way. > > They’ve always had multiple aisles running from just beyond the cash registers, to just before the back of the store. And, as mentioned, milk is always the furthest away. Fresh produce will be the first thing you see, but you’ll need to go to all four corners for a load of groceries. There’s a science to this. Same here. I’ve lived and worked all over the country and I don’t ever remember seeing that. What grinds my gears is the produce section cattle corral some stores use, that makes you wind all the way through the produce department to get to the rest of the store. Not only is it annoying, it forces all of the traffic to one path, which is infuriating for a fast walking non-browser like myself. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-stores-are-changing-and-its-making-shopping-much-more-difficult-for-disabled-and-elderly/717138/25 "2015-04-08T19:32:06Z")
Did grandpa not see the motorized scooters they keep at the front of the store? Heck, at my Kroger, some people use the scooters and their only “disability” is being fat. Granted some of those people may have medical conditions I’m not aware of, but I can’t help feeling that at least some of them are using them simply because they are lazy. (I site seeing said scooter users not parked in a handicap zone as evidence.) ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-stores-are-changing-and-its-making-shopping-much-more-difficult-for-disabled-and-elderly/717138/26 "2015-04-08T19:36:17Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Heck, at my Kroger, some people use the scooters and their only “disability” is being fat. Granted some of those people may have medical conditions I’m not aware of, but I can’t help feeling that at least some of them are using them simply because they are lazy. (I site seeing said scooter users not parked in a handicap zone as evidence.) Lots of people are disabled without looking disabled. Lots of people with mobility issues do not have placards. I don’t disagree that some people are just lazy, though riding the scooters seems like a pain in the ass. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-stores-are-changing-and-its-making-shopping-much-more-difficult-for-disabled-and-elderly/717138/27 "2015-04-08T19:51:03Z")
Screw the elderly. Free market uber alles! ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-stores-are-changing-and-its-making-shopping-much-more-difficult-for-disabled-and-elderly/717138/28 "2015-04-08T20:17:35Z")
> [@Cabin\_Fever](#): > > They are making one walk through aisles so one can see “Oooh…donuts!” > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Actually, I suspect **Cabin\_Fever** has the correct answer. The more aislespace they can get you to walk through, the greater the chance you’ll buy more things. ^ This. > [@Procrustus](#): > > Personally, I really don’t care too much how they do it, as long as they don’t keep moving things around so I have to relearn the layout. And they keep changing the layout precisely so you do spend more time in the store, lost and and confused and… oh, donuts! > [@Procrustus](#): > > I’m not unsympathetic, but shopping for these people is going to be a problem whether or not there is a center aisle. More and more places will allow you to order on-line and deliver, or you can hire someone to shop for you. Or have your children help out if they’re nearby. Let’s see, the store I work at: - scooters - curb-side pickup, you order on line, you’re given a time, and when you show up you are met at the curb by an employee who will also put the groceries in your vehicle for you. - will assign an employee to assist you in shopping That’s just what the store will do. Plenty of family and paid attendants helping out, too. And service dogs. We’ll even clean up the pee/poo if your service dog has an accident. > [@Ambivalid](#): > > I’d tell the wheelchair users described in the OP to either get in better shape or start using an electric wheelchair for such excursions as grocery shopping. Well, they might be using such excursions as their exercise, you never know. We regularly have people in both manual and powered chairs, with or without attendants. Then again, corporate mandates that even the narrowest aisle be sufficiently wide for two stock carts to pass each other, which means as long as people aren’t being total dicks two wheelchairs can also pass each other as well. OK, maybe not two of those really huge power chairs used by the quadriplegic dude, but it’s unlikely we’d get two of those in the store at the same time, much less the same aisle. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-stores-are-changing-and-its-making-shopping-much-more-difficult-for-disabled-and-elderly/717138/29 "2015-04-08T20:19:45Z")
I’ve only seen the split-aisle layout once, and that was in a building that was more of a deep square than the more common long and shallow bowling alley style. Otherwise, the lengthwise center aisle may just be unique to Kroger. > [@Shakes](#): > > …some people use the scooters and their only “disability” is being fat. A few years ago, I was at a Reno casino and wanted to clobber a bunch of young guys who wanted to monopolize a fleet of the casino’s scooters because they were lazy. Pretty hard to hide a real disability when you yell out “Let’s get these scooters! I don’t wanna walk!” ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-stores-are-changing-and-its-making-shopping-much-more-difficult-for-disabled-and-elderly/717138/30 "2015-04-08T20:25:22Z")
Very few grocery stores around here have the center aisle. I can only think of two, & they suck. Ass. Because they treat the front aisle different from the back aisle in terms of what is stocked there, they have two sets of signs hanging. The sign at the back of the front aisle (which is the same as the front sign) blocks reading the sign at the front of the back aisle; therefore, you’re required to walk up & down every aisle in those stores to find anything. Stores with only one set of aisles usually have one set of signs for everything in that aisle, meaning there are some aisles I can skip just by looking up & reading a sign. In the stores with the center aisle, invariably what I wanted was at one of the far ends, which means I did more walking in those stores than the ‘normal’ ones. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-stores-are-changing-and-its-making-shopping-much-more-difficult-for-disabled-and-elderly/717138/31 "2015-04-08T20:41:09Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Very few grocery stores around here have the center aisle. I can only think of two, & they suck. Ass. > Because they treat the front aisle different from the back aisle in terms of what is stocked there, they have two sets of signs hanging… Actually, I’ve seen stores that don’t have the cut through aisle and they still label the front and back ends of the aisle differently. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-stores-are-changing-and-its-making-shopping-much-more-difficult-for-disabled-and-elderly/717138/32 "2015-04-08T20:56:38Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Actually, I’ve seen stores that don’t have the cut through aisle and they still label the front and back ends of the aisle differently. Yes. One end may say: Pop Chips Snacks and the next end may say Condiments Pickles Salad Dressing etc. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-stores-are-changing-and-its-making-shopping-much-more-difficult-for-disabled-and-elderly/717138/33 "2015-04-08T21:06:46Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > You should be glad they’re doing this. By forcing people to walk more, they’re helping them to get exercise so that they don’t become obese in the first place. 🙂 I don’t need to be FORCED to walk more, thank you. Not these days, when I’m wearing a cast on one leg. But I do need the exercise, so I hobble up and down the aisles anyway. Of course this does me more harm than good, and guarantees that I’ll be wearing the cast longer than expected. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-stores-are-changing-and-its-making-shopping-much-more-difficult-for-disabled-and-elderly/717138/34 "2015-04-08T21:08:04Z")
I can’t really picture what you mean by a central aisle. Pretty much every grocery store I’ve seen is set up like [this](http://jughandlesfatfarm.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/kroger80slayout.png). ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-stores-are-changing-and-its-making-shopping-much-more-difficult-for-disabled-and-elderly/717138/35 "2015-04-08T21:21:51Z")
The manager will be unable to help you, as it’s a corporate decision. He will “hear your concerns” and “reach out” to some faceless entity, but in the end you’re just shit out of luck, because profit will _always_ take priority in a publicly held company. That said, Kroger is a top-rated conservative stock that I own and it continues to climb, regardless of what the market is doing. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-stores-are-changing-and-its-making-shopping-much-more-difficult-for-disabled-and-elderly/717138/36 "2015-04-08T21:22:29Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I can’t really picture what you mean by a central aisle. Pretty much every grocery store I’ve seen is set up like [this](http://jughandlesfatfarm.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/kroger80slayout.png). Just draw a horizontal line mid way through those aisles. Basically making a front section and rear. The front might be coffee, tea, creamer, mayo, mustard and so on. The back section might be cereal. (thats a real aisle layout in a store I visit). Walking down the center, turn to your left and the cereal is right there. A few steps from your cart. Turn right and the coffee is close by. It cuts your walking in half. Its not a perfect layout. Sometimes what you want is still on the far end. Shopping always means a lot of walking. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-stores-are-changing-and-its-making-shopping-much-more-difficult-for-disabled-and-elderly/717138/37 "2015-04-08T22:08:22Z")
[QUOTE=aceplace57] Walking down the center, turn to your left and the cereal is right there. A few steps from your cart. Turn right and the coffee is close by. It cuts your walking in half. [/QUOTE] SHHH! They’ll hear you, and the next thing you know, the grcery store planners will do a “re-set” on your store and then the coffee will be moved away and stashed between the pickles and taco seasoning. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-stores-are-changing-and-its-making-shopping-much-more-difficult-for-disabled-and-elderly/717138/38 "2015-04-08T22:08:37Z")
It’s been years since any grocery store around here had a center aisle. A couple have one small aisle in the middle between two others in an “H” pattern, but that’s only for the seasonal items. The middle aisle means you can’t display as many items, so it was dropped. I can’t recall anyone ever saying it was a problem not having it; they provide electric carts for people with mobility issues, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-stores-are-changing-and-its-making-shopping-much-more-difficult-for-disabled-and-elderly/717138/39 "2015-04-08T22:21:00Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > You do realize how many elderly and disabled people are in the US? How many heart patients? My mom tries to use a Scooter cart at Sams Club. They only have 4. Nearly every time she shops they are all in use and she’s forced to walk. She’s 83 and not doing that well at all. What do they do in places they don’t have scooter carts? Oh, right, they get family to help them. Too bad she doesn’t have any children to get out and shop once a week for her. I’m just sayin’. Still, I guess it’s Kroger’s problem after all. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-stores-are-changing-and-its-making-shopping-much-more-difficult-for-disabled-and-elderly/717138/40 "2015-04-08T22:22:27Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I can’t really picture what you mean by a central aisle. Pretty much every grocery store I’ve seen is set up like [this](http://jughandlesfatfarm.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/kroger80slayout.png). Think of the crossbar on a letter H. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-stores-are-changing-and-its-making-shopping-much-more-difficult-for-disabled-and-elderly/717138.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-stores-are-changing-and-its-making-shopping-much-more-difficult-for-disabled-and-elderly/717138.md?page=3)