# What's the Straight Dope on one-way store aisles? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [September 15, 2020, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-one-way-store-aisles/920704 "2020-09-15T15:50:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-one-way-store-aisles/920704/81 "2020-10-12T04:40:40Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > But hey, maybe the stress revs up my immune system, so it’s all worth it or something. FWIW, stress is HIDEOUS on your immune system. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-one-way-store-aisles/920704/82 "2020-10-12T10:35:28Z")
I stopped for some groceries and found the one-way arrows are gone! It was kind of awkward, I’d grown used to them. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-one-way-store-aisles/920704/83 "2020-10-14T05:40:24Z")
I shopped at my regular Jewel (far NW Chicago) on Saturday and the arrows were gone. IIRC they were also gone the previous week. On Monday I stopped back there for some things I’d forgotten, and the arrows were back. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-one-way-store-aisles/920704/84 "2020-10-14T06:24:45Z")
Gone at my Hy Vee in upper mid west, but consistent mask wearing was better, as was there fewer noses were hanging out. I think may be people scared, our county risk level has gone up since the university restarted and is now higher than it has ever been. We are now the 7th worst state. Granted, it was almost two months since I had stepped in that store and I had decided I wasn’t going to follow the arrows if they were there. They made little sense, slowed everybody down so everybody ended up spending more minutes per trip breathing the same air. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-one-way-store-aisles/920704/85 "2020-10-14T07:01:27Z")
Same thing at my Jewel, in the NW burbs. Happened a couple times. I think the stickers they use don’t hold up to the industrial floor cleaner they use once a week or so. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-one-way-store-aisles/920704/86 "2020-10-14T12:38:29Z")
Last Saturday, not only were the arrows still there, we also had announcements reminding us to follow them. So someone thinks they are useful. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-one-way-store-aisles/920704/87 "2020-10-14T13:17:20Z")
I’ve decided to “join the crowd” in terms of violating the one-way aisle mandate, but I rationalized my decision by creating “Jasmine’s Rule”, which states that if you park your cart legally and quickly dart to the item you want, scoop it up, and then dart back to your legally parked cart, it is acceptable. “Jasmine’s Rule” is predicated on the fact that, hey, you can WALK in the opposite direction on a one way street as long as you don’t DRIVE, right? ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-one-way-store-aisles/920704/88 "2020-10-14T13:23:43Z")
I haven’t seen a store with arrows on the floor in 20 or 30 years. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-one-way-store-aisles/920704/89 "2020-10-14T13:45:34Z")
My usual stores seem to be giving up on them. No one was paying attention, anyway, since putting signage on the floor where reflections off the floor polish make them hard to see doesn’t exactly inform the shopper. Also, those of us who’ve been having to keep working outside our homes full-time (and for less than unemployment was paying, but that’s a different rant) do not have TIME to be stuck in an aisle waiting for the “shopping as weekly get-out-of-the-house” types to spend several minutes at each display. Those of us who still have to go to work do need to get home, take care of household matters, and get some damn sleep! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-one-way-store-aisles/920704/90 "2020-10-14T14:35:09Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > park your cart legally and quickly dart to the item you want, scoop it up, and then dart back to your legally parked cart I do this too! ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-one-way-store-aisles/920704/91 "2020-10-14T15:32:39Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > I do this too! Yet again proving that, “Great minds think alike.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-one-way-store-aisles/920704/92 "2020-10-14T15:41:21Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > > [@Jasmine](#): > > > > park your cart legally and quickly dart to the item you want, scoop it up, and then dart back to your legally parked cart > > I do this too! I just walk backwards. I figure as long as I’m facing in the right direction, it doesn’t matter which way I’m moving. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-one-way-store-aisles/920704/93 "2020-10-14T16:08:08Z")
[quote=“Ann\_Hedonia, post:92, topic:920704, full:true”] > [@John\_Bredin](#): > > > [@Jasmine](#): > > > > > park your cart legally and quickly dart to the item you want, scoop it up, and then dart back to your legally parked cart > > > [/quote] > > > > > > I do this too! > > I just walk backwards. I figure as long as I’m facing in the right direction, it doesn’t matter which way I’m moving. All of the above 🕶 ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-one-way-store-aisles/920704/94 "2020-10-20T23:22:11Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > . So someone thinks they are useful. … retail merchandisers … As above, I’m generally in favor of one-way aisles in the few stores where I’ve seen it. But I’ll be honest: just like aisle displays are intended to stop and slow you down, if one-way aisles have the effect of making you slowly walk past _everything_ in the store, head office is going to be pleased. Normally they have to do really unpopular stuff like putting the essentials at the back, or changing the store layout, to make you walk slowly through the aisles of a store. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-one-way-store-aisles/920704/95 "2020-10-21T00:40:20Z")
Maybe. It’s counterproductive to the merchant if i drive farther to go to a store that lets me walk where i want, though. (Which is mostly what I’ve been doing.) ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-one-way-store-aisles/920704/96 "2020-10-21T01:37:31Z")
In Canada, a lot of fast food restaurants (and other buildings with multiple entrances) instituted a single entrance and (different -when possible) single exit. Some malls have closed direct entry to larger stores and designated other doors as entry or exit only. I wonder if this helps at all. Or even makes cleaning easier. I understand some high schools are doing this and having a thousand people line up at a single entrance. I am not convinced doing this is actually helpful. I wonder if there are any studies, theory or evidence supporting this practice.(?) ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-one-way-store-aisles/920704/97 "2020-10-21T16:10:09Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > I wonder if this helps at all. Or even makes cleaning easier. I understand some high schools are doing this and having a thousand people line up at a single entrance. I am not convinced doing this is actually helpful. I wonder if there are any studies, theory or evidence supporting this practice.(?) At my school workplace, we used to have all 1400 students enter through the front door. Now we use all the other exits and entrances instead and have students come in the entrance closest to their classroom. Only staff and visitors come through the front door now. Definitely helps with congestion. We also have arrows in the hallways—keep to the right, and students use the hallways as little as possible. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2020, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-one-way-store-aisles/920704/98 "2020-10-24T14:46:30Z")
The natural history museum I volunteer at is getting ready to reopen after being closed since March. A lot of stuff is being thought through so us volunteer supervisors showed up last Monday to have a literal walk-through. A lot of the touchy stuff is put away. The DinoZone for older kids is gone and a TBD exhibit being planned to take its place; right now it’s just a big, empty room. The Exploration Station for the littles is also closed but not gone; hopefully it’ll reopen some day. Since there’s so much less stuff, admission is half-price and you need to make a reservation, with a limit of 50 per hour. The reservation will say something like _Arrive between one and two pm_ with the hope they will trickle in during the allotted hour. Before the shutdown the average visit was 90 to 120 minutes. With the fewer exhibits, the thinking is 90 minuted will become more common so we will keep under the new maximum of 150 visitors in the building. Nothing was said about school tours which was our mainstay weekday mornings. I suspect with most of the schools around here doing virtual classes, there’s not much interest. There are floor arrows but I don’t know how enforced they will be. During our walk through, we made recommendations to rearrange them at some of the bottle necks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-one-way-store-aisles/920704.md?page=4)