Let me be clear on my definition of these up front. The technical definition of a destination store is any store that people are willing to drive far out of their way to get to. They typically have some appeal that regular stores do not like some combination of huge selections, hard to find products, unusually low prices, entertainment, activities or some novelty appeal. They have existed in the U.S. for a very long time. Wall Drug in South Dakota is an old example.
However, destination stores are springing up like crazy. My current favorite is the Bass Pro Shops megastore near Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA (they have similar ones in many other places). I just go there sometimes when I am bored just to look and not buy anything. It is massive and you can buy anything from ocean-going boats to handguns plus anything else you can imagine for outdoor activities. They have streams with real fish running through the store plus giant aquariums and museum quality taxidermied animals. They usually have some activities ranging from workshops to archery lessons going on (for free). You can also eat in the snack bar or in the sit-down restaurant/bar. They even have hiking trails around the working cranberry bog in the back. Very impressive and entertaining if you like outdoor stuff and still worthwhile even if you don’t.
The other one that really impressed me is Jungle Jim’s outside of Cincinatti, OH. How many supermarkets (if you can even call it that) have running trains inside and out plus a movie theater? That store is a textbook tale of business eccentricity that still worked out just fine. It started out as a vegetable stand and just grew into this huge complex that people drives for hundreds of miles to get to today. I met Jungle Jim himself and he is as crazy as they come but he did built the memorable supermarket complex ever.
What are your favorites? Do they even have such a thing in other countries?
An old friend of mine calls that Bass Pro Shop “The Redneck Smithsonian”. It is a cool place.
I was going to say IKEA, because I drive a long way to go to one, but I still do it because no one else has the stuff they have at those prices. I’m not sure if that’s what you meant though. Before they shut down, we went out of our way to take the kids to FAO Schwarz in Chicago. On a seperate visit we took my daughter to the American Girl Doll store. That place is amazing.
eta: redneck isn’t a very nice word, and I hope I didn’t offend anyone in using it. I can assure you, my friend who used the term would have been classified as a redneck himself, and meant it in a sweet way. He loves that place
That is actually a really good name for it although there aren’t many rednecks around here and I wasn’t raised as a real one. I don’t mind the association for that purpose however. That Bass Pro Shop is always packed. They touched a nerve somewhere and did a good job of it.
All of your other example count as well. IKEA isn’t the quite the same but it does a mass following, giant and unique stores plus a weird cafeteria with Scandinavian food. The main point is that it has to have developed a successful market niche while offering something you don’t see in most stores plus most of them need to be huge in size.
BTW: Redneck isn’t very offensive according to most of my true redneck friends that I grew up with. They are quite proud of the title and wouldn’t have it any other way.
I like Bass Pro Shops and Cabela Superstores too. They’re always fun to stroll around in to check out the gear and great wildlife displays. They even have an audio-animatronic hunter in a diorama that talks about the sporting life as you walk around the gallery. They don’t have any locations near me, but I almost always include a visit when I’m on a road trip.
I guess Amoeba Music could qualify. I hit one of their locations once a year or so. I can usually come away with an album or movie that I haven’t been able to find anywhere else.
I usually hate outdoors stuff, but that actually sounds pretty good.
Here in the UK, it’s more likely to be a retail park than a single huge store that people would drive out of their way to visit. Or sometimes perhaps a large out of town mall, like Bluewater in Kent. The problem with these places is chavification. Bluewater was already full of loons when I last went there in 2003, and clearly it’s gotten so bad that:
[QUOTE=Wikipedia]
In May 2005, Bluewater introduced a code of conduct to ban swearing, clothing that obscures the face (including hoods and baseball caps), and groups of more than five without the intention to shop. The policy has divided opinion, although Tony Blair did show support
[/QUOTE]
And of course, there’s always IKEA. IKEA is my guilty pleasure.
I think redneck is one of those words that can be used by the person being described, but is somewhat offensive if used by outsiders. I don’t consider myself one, so I wouldn’t use the term personally, lest it be construed as condescending. But I do have a large number of friends and family that are very proud to self describe that way.
Basically, I realized after I hit post that it could sound like I was making fun of the store, and I didn’t mean it that way. A lot of people who’ve never been around rural culture don’t understand how the word is used, and I didn’t want to be misunderstood. It’s an awesome place, and apparently they’re building a similar store in my city soon. I cannot wait. Even the little Bass Pro Shops are really fun places. I was just in one Saturday buying a gift for my dad, and it was so hard to leave. They have so much neat stuff!
It was the Harbor Freight until they built one near hear. But even with that the appeal wore off after two visits, it’s cool to look at, but there’s not much worth buying. I haven’t been to the Bass Pro at Gillette because I hear it’s always crowded (and it’s not that long of a ride either). I really can’t think of one right now, there’s enough of everything not too far away. Also, I’m Rhode Islander. That means Maine is right around the corner, but Cranston is too far to drive.
Truer word have never been spoken Rhode Islanders are weird breed when it comes to distances. My mother is a international speaker who resides in Texas. The worst coordination effort she ever had was trying to organize a group of Rhode Islanders for a conference. Two of the coordinators got into a fight over where it should be held. The obvious choice was Providence but one of them would have none of that. She said “You do realize that some people are going to drive half-way across the state to do that don’t you!”. To those of you not familiar with Rhode Island, it is the smallest state and you can never be far from any of it but it’s residents also adjusted their mental reference points to reflect that.
I love Rhode Island and live about 15 minutes from it but I consider it an international border in terms of attitudes. Maybe we could have a DopeFest at Patriot Place sometime but I am not sure if the Rhode Islanders would be willing to go through the extreme 30 - 40 minute commute that would require.
One of the added attractions at the “World Wide Sportsman” Bass Pro shop in Islamorada is that you can feed tarpon (and sometimes sharks) that hang out by the dock behind the store.
This is a strictly southwest, mainly southern California thing. Dunn-Edwards Paints is a Los Angeles-based regional paint manufacturer, marketing in the southwest. I have been using their paint products since 1979 and if I can get it, I’ll drive a long way to do so. I live in far northern California now and when I constructed my home here in 1997 I drove 150 miles south to the nearest D-E store to procure their product.
No, I am not a D-E employee, management, PR person or anything. But D-E is my destination for quality paint.
Jungle Jim’s is a heck of a store. Did you ever explore the little national rooms in the back? They have these tiny rooms that I think used to be storage closets. They’ve set them up as mini-stores based on various European cuisines. So there’s on room that sells British food, one room that sells French, one room that sells Norwegian, one room that sells Greek, etc.
I’m lucky enough to live close to Caputo’s and Riviera for Italian.
We have a few decent Mexican groceries, Chicago’s Greek town is close enough that I can get there easily, but I’d KILL for a nearby Indian/Pakistani grocery or a good halal butcher.
Well here in Columbia we all carpool to the IKEA in Charlotte and you’d be real hurt if somebody went to IKEA and didn’t tell you.
But for your definition, wow, the LL Bean giant campus in Maine is a thing and a half. You can learn to fly fish there and I would have done it if my dad had been able to stand up that long.
This is the greatest store ever invented. You can pick up a water pump for a 1987 Jeep Grand Cherokee, a set of front brake pads for a 2009 Hyundai Elantra, pool chemicals, coffee, golf shoes, a new toaster, a lawnmower and a patio set: just for starters.
Rhode Islanders are weird breed when it comes to distances. My mother is a international speaker who resides in Texas. The worst coordination effort she ever had was trying to organize a group of Rhode Islanders for a conference. Two of the coordinators got into a fight over where it should be held. The obvious choice was Providence but one of them would have none of that. She said “You do realize that some people are going to drive half-way across the state to do that don’t you!”. To those of you not familiar with Rhode Island, it is the smallest state and you can never be far from any of it but it’s residents also adjusted their mental reference points to reflect that.