assignment 5: emily

Big Box stores like Bed Bath and Beyond (alliteration not intended) are the cornerstones of most shopping centers, Edgewood not excluded. It contains no less than 9 Big Box outlets and i'm just counting off the top of my head. In Edgewood, as in most shopping centers, these stores' exteriors hold little identity besides the signage, the architecture is defined (and developed) by the shopping center itself and each store could be interchangable with another that needed similar square footage.


It appears as though the evolution in the psychology of selling products in such large self-service environments began with the supermarket. Before WWII, grocer publications (who knew?!) were advising that as much stock as possible be on display, because an abundance of products advertises, "I'm fresh and inexpensive—buy me while i last." The same theory holds true throughout big box stores. In some places like Costco and Sams, the abundance piled high without any attention to display, but in smaller scale establishments like Bed Bath and Beyond and even most of today's supermarkets, the abundance of the products is often very creatively displayed like the way the utensils make a pattern that extends floor to ceilings like wallpaper. Towels too are perfectly stacked from floor to ceiling forming a striped wall covering that is quite pleasing to behold (and kind of makes you want to buy all those different colors).

The organization of stores is based on the "psychology of selling" which also began coming to the fore with supermarket layout. Although the checkout line is the traditional place to get in those last minute purchases (below right), endcaps and center-of-the-aisle displays often present the customer with tantalizing, seasonal and often unnecessary items to drop in their basket. Bed Bath and Beyond has a wide one-way street around the store which i feel must have initially been free of clutter but is now crammed with center-aisle shelving hawking goodies like these Bottle Top can toppers (below left).



One final interesting note about the Big Box store is the sameness each chain. It's been years since i visited the Bed Bath and Beyond in Manhattan but every time I go to the one in Edgewood i think the sheets are downstairs and i concentrate on looking for the dang escalator which is no where to be found! The layouts, while identical, are enough alike invoke the exact same instincts which I learned at the previous location.