Hey everyone! For my December blog post (the last one of the year!), I've decided to take a look at some old Wal-Mart stuff. Not "Walmart" - "Wal-Mart;" as the title says, "artifacts hiding in plain sight." This idea was spurred by my visits recently to the Olive Branch, MS, Walmart, and coincides with my flickr photoset from there (which concludes this Saturday). The reason being? That store was one that was lightly Project Impacted - that is to say, such elements as the black checkout lane lights remain. Out in the parking lot, classic cart corrals remain as well!
As you can see, most of them look very much alike - the common design of black and white on blue might hide the fact that the actual content does, in fact, vary. I think there was one other design that I didn't capture, advertising Wal-Mart Financial Services. By far, though, my favorite design is the one you see peeking out in that last picture above: an even earlier sign still left untouched at the OB WM!
Of course, finding any signs at all on Walmart's cart returns nowadays is pretty difficult - most of them look like the one(s) below, as seen at my local store.
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| The burnt out 'r' has since been fixed :P |
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| Courtesy AFB on flickr |
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| Courtesy AFB on flickr |
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| Courtesy AFB on flickr |
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| Courtesy AFB on flickr |
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| Courtesy AFB on flickr |
The last photo above is not of a bag, but rather a "buggie," as carts are sometimes affectionately called. Those gray plastic honeycomb-design carts have been phased out for metal today, but live on in such stores as Bargain Hunt in Southaven, MS.
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| This one was actually seen still in use at the Greenville, MS, Walmart! |
An even older Wal-Mart cart can be found farther south in Southaven at the Tuesday Morning store...
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| I assume this means the cart was manufactured in August 1993. |
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| If you're ever in the store, just look for the cart with the googly eyes to find the Wal-Mart artifact underneath! I didn't place those there, but I appreciate whoever did - it works as a nice identifier :) |
...but if you want carts older than that, you're going to have to travel across the Mississippi River to Paul Michael Company in Lake Village, AR!
That billboard was seen farther north than Lake Village in Arkansas, but brings me to my next topic: old Wal-Mart trailers! These are no doubt the most prevalent means of happening upon an old Wal-Mart logo. The different types you may be likely to see on the roads are arranged in chronological order below.
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| The trailers with this version of the Sam's Club logo are identical to the one above, just with this Sam's logo in place of the other one. |
This last trailer, along with the billboard from earlier in the post, are some of the most elusive Wal-Mart artifacts: they feature Walmart's Project Impact tagline ("Save money. Live better.") alongside the old Wal-Mart logo. Try as they might, Walmart can't seem to completely eradicate their past logo-wise! On their house brand products, however, they can indeed achieve that purpose... pictured below are some old Great Value products, from before the logo change (and that stayed way past their expirations in one of our cabinets...!).
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| Yep... toldja, waaay past! |
Last but certainly not least, a look at some older Wal-Mart handbaskets... the first type remains in use (and useless!!) at my local store, which lacks actual human-sized handbaskets to my great dismay; the second, older one was spotted among a bunch of Rite Aid baskets at Commerce Street Market, also in Hernando, MS.
While we're on the topic of Rite Aid, I suggest you check out my friend Random Retail's Twin Tiers Retail Blog, where he has a post covering various Rite Aid designs (among others focusing on the chain) in advance of the brand's anticipated dissolution due to their buyout by Walgreens. Also, before I go, I want to leave you with one more Wal-Mart artifact, a clue of what will be coming to my flickr photostream in summer 2016...
Well, that wraps up today's post, and this year for the Mid-South Retail Blog! I hope you have an awesome holiday season, and I'll see you again next year with all new posts. Until next time, have fun exploring the retail world wherever you are!
Retail Retell
This post makes me feel so old. I clearly remember the We Sell For Less/Wal-Mart Pharmacy cart corral signs, the Wal-Mart-now-Tuesday Morning carts, the smiley bags, all in use in Wal-Mart stores at the same time! All that's missing is this interior, and it could be 1998 all over again! I miss 90's Wal-Mart a lot, not just for the old interiors, but the the entire Wal-Mart atmosphere and shopping experience, which to me has slipped since then. Project Impact is nothing compared to 90's Wal-Mart though. I actually spotted another common 90's Walmart artifact in my travels today (that's not included in this post), still in use at what's now a former Walmart store. I think some current older Walmart stores still have this artifact laying around as well...
ReplyDeleteGlad to see may old Wal-Mart bags being appreciated! Thanks for putting my bags (and that cart/"buggie" picture) in this post and for all the links. I have some old Great Value items laying around as well. You've really amassed lots of pictures of old Wal-Mart relics. It's amazing just how many are still out there, and how many can still be found in Walmart stores themselves.
And if you're summer 2016 photoset is of what I think it is, I have an entire bag of those from the 90's/early 2000's that I acquired from a few different stores packed away somewhere.
Yep, I agree - even though I don't remember Wal-Mart as well as you do, I agree that Walmart is considerably different in a lot of aspects. Your artifact sounds really cool, by the way!
DeleteYou're welcome! I think they're the most interesting element of the post, personally. As for all my pictures, I've just been snapping stuff as I see it (lol), not knowing when I'd get around to posting it (or even if I would, as I don't want to use up my flickr TB) - and as always, running a blog comes to the rescue!
Given the way you phrased that, we're probably on the same page ;)
Those old carts at Tuesday Morning were interesting too. I guess they must have had them for a very long time, as I haven't seen those carts around since 2003 or so, when they were all switched out for the gray plastic ones.
DeleteI actually found my artifact by accident. I actually ended up stopping at that old Walmart to get something from a store that currently occupies the building, and I figured I could get a few pictures while I was there. Turns out I got more than what I expected!
I also try getting pictures of things as I see them, and sometimes they turn out well, sometimes they don't. I tried taking a picture of that same old blue Walmart basket I saw in a stack of baskets at a thrift store, and it ended up coming out too blurry to post. According to flickr, it will take approx. 700,000 photos to fill up 1TB, so you don't need to worry about filling that up too fast!
It was just the one, actually! All of the carts there are of that style, but either the handle couldn't be moved or the Wal-Mart logo had already been replaced on the rest of them. Also, I've noticed they've gotten new metal carts recently, so this one may be on its way out :(
DeleteThat sucks about the basket, but I'm intrigued about your other artifact! And wow, thanks for the info! That's a bit more than I was expecting it would take :P
That sounds like a similar situation to how I found out the identity of the old Zellers carts at my local Big Lots, however seeing the old Zellers logo reflect off of the child seat is what lead me to try twisting the handle to uncover more Zellers logos. And like at Tuesday Morning, of all of the old Zellers carts, only the one was still relatively intact. But that doesn't matter anymore, as Big Lots got rid of all of their old carts in exchange for newly acquired Dominick's carts. Hopefully that Wal-Mart cart will still be floating around for a little longer.
DeleteI'm still not sure if I should tell you what my Wal-Mart artifact was, or if I should let you look around your local Walmart stores to see if you can spot one still in use, as I'm pretty sure I've seen this item recently at a still open Walmart as well.
Hmm... I'm thinking of a few things at the front end, like the "remember the ice" sign and black checkout squares, but those would have been taken out when Walmart vacated... the other thing I'm thinking of is original enter and exit signs on the doors, but those seem to be updated on all current stores that I know of! Of course, maybe thinking about the front end is the wrong trail to go down...!
DeleteThink "outside" the big box...
DeleteUmm... Benches? Those pole things in front of the doors? Road sign boxes? :P
DeleteI think I've driven you crazy enough with this. Here's a Google Streetview image of my artifact, although my picture is of the other side of it, taken facing the front of the building.
DeleteAh! You know, I figured it out right as I clicked that link 😑 I was even thinking about those earlier today, since the picture I posted to flickr of the cart return has one as well! The one I saw actually said Wal-Mart on it though.
DeleteOh wow, I completely missed seeing that sign in the picture with the cart return (and it couldn't have been more obviously placed!) I knew some current Walmarts still had the 90's "Security Cameras in Use" signs in place, but it was really weird seeing that sign at a Walmart that hasn't been a Walmart in over 10 years!
DeleteI only noticed it this morning, to be honest XD And I agree, that would be weird! At least it was one of those that didn't say Wal-Mart on it :P
DeleteAlso, those question mark things above were meant to be an emoticon... Blogger's been a lot friendlier lately, but I guess it still doesn't like those!
I really don't recall ever seeing the version of that sign that said Wal-Mart on it (maybe I did but just don't remember). Well, it worked out for them in the case of that Wal-Mart relocation! They didn't have to send someone up there to paint over the Wal-Mart logo on each sign!
ReplyDeleteI figured that's what the question marks were. Recently with me, Blogger has decided it doesn't like my spacing and alignment in my yet to be published posts, and does it's own spacing and alignment when I close out of the post. When I go back in, everything looks weird, and the only way to fix it is to go into the html version of the post and change the spacing and alignment that way. Blogger always has to find a way to annoy us!
At my Wal-Mart in Salisbury, I found one of the artifacts in the store. One of them might be the 2003-2006 Eye Doctor and Allergy Alert signs and the Futura Spill Clean up Station sign. They stayed when the Wal-Mart was remodeled and they are interesting, even for a store that opened in 2002!! I will get photos of them when I am at Wal-Mart!!!
ReplyDeleteNeat, I look forward to seeing them!
DeleteWeird. I guess my comment never went through.
ReplyDeleteJust like AFB mentioned, I too preferred the '90s Walmart more than what they are today. I'm glad I'm just old enough to have experienced what Walmart was like before it became the store it is today. In my opinion, it lost a lot of that local charm (e.g. Thank You for Shopping Your [town name] Walmart) after Sam Walton died.
It's actually kind of funny because I used to prefer Walmart over Kmart, but now it is reversed. My original Flickr name was actually 'walmart3' until I decided I better change it.
You may not be aware of it, but you can get rewarded for shopping at Kmart/Sears through the Shop Your Rewards program. That's one reason I shop there because you get rewarded to shop there!
It did, it just somehow ended up over at the South Lake Centre blog post. Another Blogger malfunction, I suppose! I went ahead and replied to it there :)
DeleteYep, I notice that when I link to any of your photos! As for the Shop Your Way Rewards, I have indeed heard of them (or at least seen mentions of them in your and others' photos). Seems like a good concept for Kmart and Sears to get and keep customers.
The Ocean State Job Lot I go to opened in December 2006 is almost entirely composed of these:
ReplyDeletehttps://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2uLbDxOcjC8/VnHtw5zy2lI/AAAAAAAABFA/_X5hWTrR_Zg/s1600/20150315_144809.jpg
There are only a couple of honeycomb-style carts manufactured in 2003. I'm not sure if the honeycomb ones are also ex-Walmart carts.
Wouldn't surprise me if they were! Ex-Walmart carts are very common in stores like that...
DeleteAnd a Wal-Mart in Rochester, NY still has the classic layout. It's not super, and still has the red checkout lightboxes. It has no refrigeration coolers, and is adorned with red tile border.
DeleteSome other interesting layout features are jewelry is in the back and the electronics section is in the middle, complete with a ceiling fan.
Decor wise, it surprisingly has the first generation of Project Impact (3D/pillow signs) and a 2008-era paint job with the current logos.
Carts are small 2008 models with grey bumper caps mixed with some small 2009 models.
I have covered it as seen here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kmart9542/albums/72157690333629772
Those classic stores are always neat to see!
DeleteLooking back, I suspect that the cart from 8-93 has a replacement handle. The dark blue handles didn't come around until about 1998, replacing the WAL-MART DISCOUNT CITY and WAL-MART SUPER CENTER handles (the latter of which applies to larger carts), meaning it would have originally had the WAL-MART DISCOUNT CITY labeled handle. Also the odd font choices (particularly for the word "Always", which is white instead of red), and the two-line "From the cart to the car Always Buckle Up!" suggest the handle is aftermarket.
DeleteThanks for the updated info!
DeleteThough there is one other exception. Those carts manufactured by Technibilt and Cari-All had dark blue trim, even in the Discount City era. I came across a Technibilt model in a thrift store that bore the Discount City name, and had the numbers 12 and 96 (December 1996?) on the back of the front caster plate. That would put the end of that era on carts around 1997/98.
DeleteGood to know.
DeleteDid Walmart still use chrome-framed carts in 2003? This Tuesday Morning one is dated 10-03 and had the name glued off:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.flickr.com/photos/kmart9542/39794517592/
And the rest of the info matches this:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kmart9542/27752283809/in/photolist-23CviEh-JhnH6T
Maybe so!
Delete