AngeloDolce

I've basically done this on occasion.

Most of the stores near me don't have bike racks, but are otherwise friendly (suggest bringing bike into vestibule, careful with bagging.

The ShopRite does have a bike rack, but when I had bought a new laptop and didn't want to leave the laptop (and clearly marked box) outside, I just wheeled the bike through the store. Nobody had any problems; it's no bigger than a shopping cart.

Darth Lefty 

The Wal-Mart in Orangevale occasionally has a cool old Peugot moped in the bike rack.

wphamilton

I haven't seen a rack at any retail business anywhere in my area including bike shops.

edit: ha, I forgot that there is a single lock post at the Publix market I used to frequent.

R578645

I haven't used a tree to lock up yet but I've used mailboxes, lightpoles, building columns........... Our bike shops have racks to park at. I don't park at high risk locations.

DX-MAN

That's how Walmart WANTS you to think. They've built their empire on that, and used their lofty heights to truly BE "too big to fail", and have savaged the American economy as a result.

spivonious

The local Target has a nice modern rack out front. My local supermarket has nothing, but I lock to the railing out front. The shopping center that the supermarket is in does have a modern bike rack that I could use, but it's a couple of stores up and I don't want to carry my groceries that far.

There is another supermarket that has nothing that fits my u-lock, so I tend to avoid going there.

vatdim

Most of the bigger stores in my area do have bike racks, but unfortunately, it's the crappy kind, where you're basically supposed to lock the front wheel or the fork to the rack. Usually, there's no clearance for the rear wheel, which is the second most valuable piece of equipment on your bike, to get locked up, especially if your wheel is bigger or you have a rear luggage rack and fenders, etc. The worst is, you are basically forced to lock your bike with a crappy cable lock instead of use a proper D-lock in order to lock both the frame and the rear wheel to the rack.

Here goes an example:

fietsbob

My condolences for your loss of a normal town with small businesses and having been so dominated by an Outside Corporation.

jerseyJim

The Trader Joe's I shop at doesnt have a bike rack but they dont stop me from using my bike with panniers as a shopping cart. The Sports Authority near me has a first class rack right by the front doors. I commented on it once to the cashier as I was checking out and he was like "there is a bike rack out front?". He never noticed it! So it must hardly ever get used.

There are few utility cyclists here in the land of the SUV.

treadtread

The Safeway I shop at does have a rack, but it is positioned in such a way that I cannot get the rear triangle near the rack at all. The only option is to lock the front wheel (and my front wheel has quick release!).

stdlrf11

My local shops have a rack, but its around back where the employees smoke, and its not visible from the parking lot. I kind of think of it as a good and a bad thing. A lot of employees smoke, so I've got a good chance of (good guy) eyes being on it.
The local Walmart and Target stores are over 5mi away across a highway, so I don't even consider biking there. With just a rack and pannier set, it wouldn't be worth the trip for just a few items. For groceries, I'd rather buy from the local shops anyway.

MikeRides

My local Walmart has 2 bike racks, located off to the side (by the shelter where employees take their smoke breaks). It's less visible, which can make bike theft popular if anyone ever rode their bike to this store (i never see any, probably because this store is located on the very top of a steep hill-a hill I would never voluntarily ride up). The Target located directly across the street doesn't have any. The store I shop at the most is Aldi, I've never seen a bike rack at any of their stores. I've locked my bike to the rear of the cart corral to keep it out of other shoppers' way, people have to retrieve their 25 cent deposit for the carts so they don't just shove the cart into the rack like seen at Walmart many times so I never have to worry about my bike being banged up.

Personally I think like pay phones, bike racks are a thing of the past. They don't seem to be used much anymore and as a result stores are removing them from their property. As long as there's a sign or light post, they really aren't necessary IMO.

stdlrf11

In the D/FW metroplex, there are several requests to have them installed. All new or refurbished parks have really nice new ones. I think I read somewhere that one of the cities is requiring all new construction to include a bike rack.

R578645

Actually you can blame everyone for having too much sex and overpopulating the city causing big box's to come in to feed the masses. Imagine standing in line at a small "mom and pop" store with the line going around the block. You end up waiting too long and then your bike gets stolen. No thanks. Thats why we have costco, 4 savemarts, wincoe, foods company, and many others to feed the masses. I do my main shopping at a real grocery store. And it doesn't end in "Mart" or "get".

vatdim

I can see that working as long as bike commuters are few. However, once more and more people start to cycle to work and a lot of them realize they can use the bike to do their shopping, there will also be a lot of people trying to lock up their bikes to only a few signs, light posts, etc. All in all, I believe stores should start to invest in good bike parking infrastructure, especially if cyclists are on the rise in the given area.

daihard 

I agree. While fewer and fewer people use pay phones these days, I see more and more people riding bicycles for different purposes than before. My experience doesn't agree with MikeRides' assertion that bike racks are a thing of the past. To the contrary, it looks to me as if they are needed much more today than, say, 10 years ago.

fietsbob

They stick all that big box stuff in another town there are limited flat places here..

this city (about 10K) did install a lot of bike racks, though.. so the signposts are not all there is to lock up to .

I say Wally feeds Off the little people . given the wages keep 'Associates' in the dole income levels..
but wealth runs politics , so everyone else is a tool.

The Box stores shift Water and sewage costs off to the Residents and road access cost to the state,

under the flag of Incentives. circling the drain ..

rommer25

I was at a Cosco a while back. I went to get fast food outside the store. While waiting for my order, I saw a woman with a single speed and trailer walk her bike out of the store and ride away. I appears that she did ride her bike into the store and parked it in the exit area while doing her shopping.

Rhodabike

Every day I ride past a strip mall that has no bike racks, located on a street just a few blocks from a busy mup. My hairdresser is there, so whenever I go in for a trim I have to lock up to a railing around a raised section of sidewalk outside a donut shop - there aren't even any signs to lock to.
Numerous times I've told them that they should ask the landlord to install a good bike rack, as so many people ride past when coming off the mup, but it's never happened. So, there's an independent butcher shop, a women's clothing store, and numerous other businesses in that mall that I'll probably never visit more than a few times a year, whereas if they had a decent bike rack I - and a lot of other people - could stop off on the way home from work.

tcs

My local REI has a short ribbon rack. It's cemented into place so close to the building it can't actually be used by more than one bike placed flat against it. It's been that way for ~ten years; apparently REI and their customers are cool with that.

tjspiel

?

It might seem like that if you live in an area with a growing population but you have to remember that big cities with high population densities have historically got by just fine without big box stores. They do it by mixing retail and residential. You don't have a single mom and pop trying to serve everyone in a few square miles, you have a mom and pop on every corner. Open air markets can serve large populations. Delivery is much more common. Even in small U.S. towns if you're old enough you might remember that dairy products were often delivered vs bought in a store. I've had older relatives that used to be "Milk Men".

Big box retail is more connected to the rise of automobile than any rise in population.

Back on topic: Many of the places I frequent by bike have racks but there are places that don't. It's rare that I have much difficulty finding something to lock my bike to but there are times when I really have to look. Since I live in a city there are lots of stores that don't have parking lots. The places that do have lots seem less likely to have bike racks than those that don't. That's not universally true though and it could be more my perception than reality.

I also live pretty close to some popular bike routes so for that reason shops in my area tend to have racks.

The nearest grocery store does have a rack but it's an old fashioned "grid" type. It works. The closest Walmart would be an unpleasant trip by bike anyway. I have no idea if it has a rack. There are Targets that are much closer and they have bike racks.

Jewel

Our big box stores do have a small rack at each location. Our downtown area is much more progressive with its modern and accessible bike racks. I do wonder why some of our outdoor shops, esp one of the LBS doesn't have any bike parking AND you have to walk up about 7-8 tiny, steep concrete steps to get to its entrance... not only does it make it inconvenient to bring one's bike in for service, but say goodbye to any customers who are handicapped or customers with young children (future riders!) in strollers (potential bike trailer customers).

daihard 

That'd be ideal for me. Most of the local Starbucks locations let me take my bike inside, but I've never tried it with Costco.

kmv2

definitely.

kmv2

And then when all the people leave because there's no decent wage jobs left, the people who remain are at the mercy of one company that can decide to raise prices, to close up shop and to simply move on. Not to mention, their box usually only lasts about 15 years before they want to vacate because its falling apart or to build something even bigger.

On topic: Yeah the stores I shop at have racks.

I do not shop at box stores, so I don't care if they have racks or not.