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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWalmart is making noticeable changes in every store for morning shoppers. Here's why
Walmart announced Tuesday that it is making changes to create a calmer shopping experience, at least for a few hours every day in all of its US stores.Set to be implemented on Nov. 10, the changes include setting in-store TV walls to a static image, turning off the radio, and lowering the store lights. Walmart said it learned during a pilot test for the back-to-school shopping period that these efforts are especially beneficial to neurodiverse individuals both customers and employees with sensory disabilities.
Earlier this year, we took a step in making shopping in our stores more inclusive for those with sensory disabilities by taking measures to create a less stimulating environment for a couple hours each Saturday. The feedback of the pilot program was overwhelmingly positive, the retailer said in a blogpost Tuesday. These changes may have seemed small to some, but for others they transformed the shopping experience.
Walmart said the sensory-friendly hours will take place from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. (local time) seven days a week in all Walmart US and Puerto Rico stores, and dont have a planned end date.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/07/business/walmart-sensory-friendly-hours-every-us-store/index.html

Chainfire
(17,757 posts)mahina
(19,704 posts)Delphinus
(12,209 posts)I was in Macy's yesterday and ALREADY holiday music.
mahina
(19,704 posts)I am not sure if all the noise and bright lights are part of why I find trips there distressing and so avoid, but it's inconvenient for me anyway. This will be better for lots of others.
rurallib
(63,648 posts)EX500rider
(11,775 posts)rurallib
(63,648 posts)I just said that I will believe that is a policy when next I go into a Walmart between 8 and 10 and their in store music isn't blaring. Walmart is not the greatest on policies such as this.
Around here they had mask policies that were never enforced.
xmas74
(29,860 posts)Months ago and only had 2 tvs on, both with no volume and on a weather station.
It's much calmer.
rurallib
(63,648 posts)Wish I didn't have to shop at Wally World, but they drove out all the local competition except for the very high priced chain.
xmas74
(29,860 posts)Besides the Dollar General. Target is a 40 minute drive so I'm at Walmart once a month or so.
HAB911
(9,598 posts)WOKE! WOKE!
dem4decades
(12,677 posts)SWBTATTReg
(25,190 posts)easier for me to hear normal conversations. We'll see how it goes.
GreenWave
(11,087 posts)
Qutzupalotl
(15,328 posts)
But seriously, this is a good move.
I_UndergroundPanther
(13,049 posts)Did you say? I lost my thought..
Story of my life having adhd but I wish the peaceful hours were 24 hours.
And I hate 99% of xmas music,it triggers me and what happened to no xmas shit until after thanksgiving rule?
I am dreading xmas already.
I shop at walmart because I am poor,and can't drive and you have to wait 2 hours for the next bus which shoots my anxiety sky high.
Marthe48
(20,510 posts)I haven't been inside a walmart for several years. Very rarely, I drive through their parking lot and that alone reminds me of why I don't shop there. If it transforms the shopping experience, maybe others will enjoy their ordeal a little more or differently.
usedtobedemgurl
(1,652 posts)And light sensitivity. this is a great thing.
EX500rider
(11,775 posts)
usedtobedemgurl
(1,652 posts)I do curbside, but if I have to go in, I know when to do it. Thanks for the information.
bucolic_frolic
(49,952 posts)Blocking out the shoppers won't be a bad thing.
Demovictory9
(35,454 posts)Oopsie Daisy
(5,618 posts)I've thanked and praised them for that many times. I want to encourage it. I recently needed to go to the next-closest Target and it was a different story. The music was LOUD and very -- "youthful" let's say. (not my cuppa tea at all!) I had to turn OFF my hearing aids because it was so loud --- isn't that sad?
I really do like being alone-with-my-thoughts while shopping. I like being able to look-up comparative pricing info and check the Target app to see if there are any e-coupons or other bonuses while shopping. Having a quiet and calm store makes it easier, and I spend more time there when I don't feel like "OMG-I've-GOT-to-get-OUT-of-here!!"
Axelrods_Typewriter
(298 posts)Aisles are nice and wide, they don't have a billion choices for every product, and it's nice and quiet inside. And the store is actually store-sized, not airplane hangar-sized.
Oopsie Daisy
(5,618 posts)--- but I do like smaller grocery stores. Like a neighborhood market, just what I need when I need it. The basics, staples, at a decent price. And if I need specialty vegs or cheeses for recipes or occasions, I can search elsewhere. but for daily shopping, we like our little Weis market (and the Sr/Military discounts are nice too.)
Conjuay
(2,383 posts)Our Aldi's has not had mens deodorant in 5 MONTHS.
There still is a sign on the empty shelf, like they expect it to arrive at any minute.
Conjuay
(2,383 posts)Our Aldi's has not had mens deodorant in 5 MONTHS.
There still is a sign on the empty shelf, like they expect it to arrive at any minute.
moniss
(7,105 posts)I would settle for the Walmart stores around me to just have more of an effort at clean floors, clean entryways, clean parking lots etc. Maybe the ones around me will lower the lights so I don't notice the floors as much.
niyad
(123,345 posts)insanity of the current (and, one hopes, finished) remodel. I wish I could say the same for a Family Dollar by me. ughhhh.
Hermit-The-Prog
(36,631 posts)ancianita
(40,345 posts)Id never step foot in one.
FailureToCommunicate
(14,468 posts)we shop: food stores, clothing stores, home goods stores... even gas station pumps blast out unwelcome blather.
I can't stand the trend. It's a bit like Nineteen Eighty Four in its pervasiveness.
(Edited to add: Get off my lawn!)
pfitz59
(11,460 posts)I never use walmart
NowISeetheLight
(3,996 posts)They're in the middle of remodeling my local Walmart. So far it's actually pretty nice except for the evil human replacing self-check lanes. I usually use the drive up service so I don't have to go inside. PTSD can be a lot like sensory issues in that dealing with crowds is tough. If I do go inside it's always at 7am before its busy.
niyad
(123,345 posts)Apart from a completely remodeled restroom I had not even known about, the one thing I am noticing is that the shelves go much higher.
NowISeetheLight
(3,996 posts)I find I'm lost in ours. They moved everything around. I went for dog treats last week and they moved the pet stuff from the front corner by the garden center to the back opposite corner by the paper towels. The old pet section was crammed full of Christmas stuff.
I also noticed they didn't have any fall stuff (like orange Thanksgiving stuff). I need to find some and I'm sure as heck not going to Hobby Lobby!
niyad
(123,345 posts)clear to the back of the store, but it is almost tripled in size, especially the cat stuff. The arts/crafts and sewing also seriously expanded.
niyad
(123,345 posts)sensitivity to light. My poor overstressed senses could use a break (this includes most stores, mostly so brightly lit that I have to wear my sunglasses. And I wish earpkugs did not give me headaches.)
Mopar151
(10,267 posts)Hekate
(97,344 posts)Maru Kitteh
(30,092 posts)Hopefully other stores will follow.