Does Living Car Free Mean Sacrifices-Like Non-Participation In Drive-In Shopping?
 

I was watching Sears Roebuck & Company (a large US based department store) new experiment in shopping-supposed to be superior even to online shopping & delivery-drive through department store heralding the ultimate in instant gratification satisfaction.

Video Only:
http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/great-groceries-10558002

Short Commentary With Same Video Access Window Included:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/nightlineda...t-succeed.html

Can you visualize yourselves participating in this activity with your....gasp!....bicycle?

Why not? Pop on my shopping panniers or attach the trailer and go.

I suspect that there will be a cost involved, not sure I'd want to pay that.

No. Never.

Taking the bike would be awesome. Wouldn't have to worry at all about where to lock it up. :D

Art and Si have it dialed -- I'd hook up a trailer in a second! But the additional cost would be a factor....

A lot of drive-throughs won't serve people on bikes. :mad:

I'm not sure if the prices have to be higher for this business to succeed. It depends on how much it costs to have workers fetch the stuff for you, and how much they save by having a space saving warehouse layout instead of display-oriented layout & by having the computer "ring you up" instead of a paid cashier.

I don't think the prices have to be higher at all. They can even have a smaller parking lot and dedicate more space towards warehouse-type storage. They also don't have to pay people to walk around and make sure the shelves look nice (they call that "zoning" at Target, according to a friend who worked there), or wax and vacuum the floors, or just drag boxes of stuff around only to put items on shelves later. Heck, they can probably cut the number of workers in half.

They could likely afford to drop prices a bit and still come out with better profits because of the other cost savings. I don't see this as a new, trendy way of shopping -- I think they want to do it to maximize profits (and what smart business owner wouldn't want that?).

It Won't Work Without The Internet
 

There are too many items sold at Sears that won't do well in this format. Any type of clothing will not sell well without being tried on for fit first.

This could work for many smaller items and appliances. If one bothers to go to the internet site and look at the things available they could just as easily have them delivered instead of going into the store. I wonder how much impulse shopping is curtailed by this type of store. That must account for some important part of store profits. If it didn't then certain items wouldn't be put on the corners of aisles or very near the checkout areas.

One of the last Sears & Roebuck catalogue pickup stores was near my home in New Orleans. They had some items that weren't in the regular Sears stores. It always took a really long time to get service in that place. One had to take a number and sometimes wait more than a half an hour before the number would come up. I hated that place.

The new high tech store like the one in the story just won't work well with a line of many customers. I noticed that there weren't too many there while the report was being made.

I hate the drive-through restaurant concept, the idea that we are in so much of a hurry that even eating must be done as fast as possible. On the other hand, if I need something, and I know exactly what it is, and I can request it on the internet and then go and pick it up...I can see it, by car or by bike. For some reason, that seems like a better use of time.

I like this concept better: I know what I want. I find it on the Internet. Someone delivers it to my door.

Who do we need a drive-thru, which is probably miles from home... ?

I used to work for Safeway.com as a delivery driver. They charge an extra $5 to orders of $50 or more. I think it was about $10 for orders under $50. The biggest complaint we got was about the produce. It does not matter how good of produce you deliver because the customer did not pick it out, they seem to always find some imperfection. I think that Safeway.com was operating at a loss with those prices though because its a new buissiness and they are simply trying to generate interest before actually trying to make money doing it. That is also probably what other delivery services and pick up services are going to do. Since its a new market they will operate at a loss for a few years just to take over market shares and generate name recognition. Big companies can afford these kinds of tactics but small start up companies dont stand a chance....

All that being said, I love the idea of my stuff coming to me instead of the other way around. I wish that Safeway.com would switch to Biofuel or LPG vehicles though.

Discrimination.. Few drive through situations have I ever enjoyed.. If the bank did not have a bike rack , i'd just bring my bike inside the store.. that has happened.. Of course few of us doing in banking, banking that often anymore.. If I had to enter a bank thanks to the no bike policy , one thing I did enjoy is my sweat dripping on their counter and grossing out other customers after a hot days ride..
.. Drive In's have never been something I've missed. For all that , few stores I need other than Mervyn's, a favorite bike shop , a book store , and a grocer/ liquor store.. Giving up the Border's experience with it's snack bar and comfortable chairs is something I'd miss on the rare occasions we even like to shop at all. The drive In shopping mania is just another attempt to make the world less personal. No thanks.

Kozmo tried, back in the day...

Drive-thrus work best when you're on your way somewhere else. Sometimes we'd stop at one on the way to my grandma's house, or my dad would hit one on the way home from work. To go out-and-back to one is usually silly, although taking an order for a bunch of people and bringing it to Grandma's works well.

Does no one outside of the United States think this is really, really bizzar? I feel like i'm looking at some kind of twisted reality from Doctor Who or something.

This whole drive-thru thing is really creepy.

Well, remember drive-thru liquor stores?

I'm completely failing to see how non-participation in drive-through shopping could be considered a sacrifice.

It annoys me sometimes that I cant get fast food on a bike once the dining rooms are closed, but I dont trip on it too hard anymore after realizing the real reason they dont serve you. It isnt discrimination, its liability.

-Cars drive like ******* in drive thru lanes
-Bikes do not offer much protection in the event of an accident
-Allowing bikes opens the door to people under driving age, where liabilities become an even uglier issue

as a fast food worker for over a year (with a lot of time working drive thru line outside) I know these three points are true and the underlying reason behind why bicyclists arent served in drive thru lines. But like others have said its not such a horrible thing anyway...

If I still lived in North America,
and owned a vehicle,
and liked shopping for things like flats of coke and lawn tractors,
and liked being around other motorized vehicles,
and was price insensitive,
and fat,
I'd be all over that shlt.

"Welcome to Walmart...I love you" "Welcome to Walmart....I love you" 'Idiocracy'

What an elitist bunch of hogwash. "OOh look at me. I'm too hip to go through the drive through. Only idiots even go to McDonalds" Hell, somebody is using them, even if they're ashamed to admit it.

Personally, I would love to see an America that's tolerant of bicycles in all parts of society. There should be as many cyclists at Walmart or in the drive-thru of McDonalds as there are at the trendy coffee bar. We will never make a dent in the problems caused by cars if we can't get mainstream middle-class people in on the act. And getting muddled up with the culture wars is a losing strategy, IMO.

If you could ride your bicycle to places WTF would want a drive thru? A bike rack and walk up window would be more than sufficient and probably use up a helluva lot less landscape too.

Aaron :)

I've noticed that most Rally's have a walk-up window, which I think is great. As to why yu would want a drive-through on a bike, mainly for the same reason motorists do--it's quicker if you don't have to park, lock your bike, etc. Also, late at night the lobby is closed and peds and cyclists should be able to grab a burger then.

Walk up windows would fulfill all of the requirements without the necessity for a drive thru and how about a wonderful concept called 24 hour service? Parking and locking a bike takes very little time, if you have a ride/drive thru you will still have to decide what you are going to do with the stuff you got.

Aaron :)