Bill Would Require California Retailers To Have Gender-Neutral Sections; Violators Face Fines

[Loren Pechtel]

Reality: No store is so small as to prohibit such a division. There's literally nothing to stop a store from diving up clothes by age or size to any arbitrary degree of precision that doesn't imply empty categories (there's probably no clothing at all that belongs in the '8 years, 3 months and 2 days' section).

Have you ever been in a store that sells clothing?!?!

Look at how it's organized--each rack generally contains one or a closely related set of garments in various sizes. Rarely do you see unrelated garments on the same rack other than in clearance situations. Rarely do you see multiple racks containing the same garment. If you try to divide a group into two you'll end up with half-racks of clothing, you'll take up a lot more floor space to sell the same number of goods. If you try to combine disparate garments on the racks so as not to waste the space you'll end up making it a lot harder for the customer to find what they want because you only get a good look at the garment in front--it should be representative of what's behind.

There's opposition to fucking everything, including not changing anything. The existence of opposition isn't a reason not to do something.

Reality: Prefacing your unsupported claims with "Reality:" adds exactly nothing to their believability.

Why are women going to want to go through the hassle of switching? Especially since most women's garments are cut differently than men's and not interchangeable even if they look the same.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Store do all kinds of things to maximize profit. Higher priced items at eye level, cheaper down below. Put usually related departments at differant locations. A couple of the Meijer stores here remodeled. The pet food/supplies used to be next to the food area. They moved the pet supplies all the way to the other end of the store, making you take the back aisle past the housewares and electronics or the front aisle past the clothing and shoes. Pharmacy in a differant corner.

Personally, I believe this to be an academic discussion. This legislation will never pass.

They moved pet food/supplies to the back, or they moved only pet supplies to the back?

If it was both food and supplies, I would commend the decision. Pet food often stinks and shouldn't be next to human food.

Packaged food is not going to infiltrate odors into other packaged food. Just keep stinky food away from produce.

 

[Metaphor]

Store do all kinds of things to maximize profit. Higher priced items at eye level, cheaper down below. Put usually related departments at differant locations. A couple of the Meijer stores here remodeled. The pet food/supplies used to be next to the food area. They moved the pet supplies all the way to the other end of the store, making you take the back aisle past the housewares and electronics or the front aisle past the clothing and shoes. Pharmacy in a differant corner.

Personally, I believe this to be an academic discussion. This legislation will never pass.

They moved pet food/supplies to the back, or they moved only pet supplies to the back?

If it was both food and supplies, I would commend the decision. Pet food often stinks and shouldn't be next to human food.

Packaged food is not going to infiltrate odors into other packaged food. Just keep stinky food away from produce.

I'm not talking about odours infiltrating other packaged food. I'm talking about smelling the odour while I'm shopping. Maybe pet owners are used to the smell and don't notice, but I definitely notice what dry packaged dog food smells like when I walk down that aisle.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Packaged food is not going to infiltrate odors into other packaged food. Just keep stinky food away from produce.

I'm not talking about odours infiltrating other packaged food. I'm talking about smelling the odour while I'm shopping. Maybe pet owners are used to the smell and don't notice, but I definitely notice what dry packaged dog food smells like when I walk down that aisle.

I agree but don't see your point. The pet aisle smells like pet food. Typically the rest of the aisle is housewares or the like. Never have I smelled the pet food in the next aisle. I can see no reason it would matter where it is other than if it was adjacent to something that can absorb smells.

 

[Metaphor]

Packaged food is not going to infiltrate odors into other packaged food. Just keep stinky food away from produce.

I'm not talking about odours infiltrating other packaged food. I'm talking about smelling the odour while I'm shopping. Maybe pet owners are used to the smell and don't notice, but I definitely notice what dry packaged dog food smells like when I walk down that aisle.

I agree but don't see your point. The pet aisle smells like pet food. Typically the rest of the aisle is housewares or the like. Never have I smelled the pet food in the next aisle. I can see no reason it would matter where it is other than if it was adjacent to something that can absorb smells.

I accept you've never smelled pet food in the next aisle, but I have. And so the benefit to me of separating pet food from human food is that I don't have to smell pet food while I'm shopping for human food.

 

[ZiprHead]

I agree but don't see your point. The pet aisle smells like pet food. Typically the rest of the aisle is housewares or the like. Never have I smelled the pet food in the next aisle. I can see no reason it would matter where it is other than if it was adjacent to something that can absorb smells.

I accept you've never smelled pet food in the next aisle, but I have. And so the benefit to me of separating pet food from human food is that I don't have to smell pet food while I'm shopping for human food.

The new member of the Avengers, the Super Smeller!

 

[Metaphor]

I agree but don't see your point. The pet aisle smells like pet food. Typically the rest of the aisle is housewares or the like. Never have I smelled the pet food in the next aisle. I can see no reason it would matter where it is other than if it was adjacent to something that can absorb smells.

I accept you've never smelled pet food in the next aisle, but I have. And so the benefit to me of separating pet food from human food is that I don't have to smell pet food while I'm shopping for human food.

The new member of the Avengers, the Super Smeller!

Here's the breakdown for people watching at home:

ZiprHead kvetches that a store separated pet food from human food, doing so 'to maximise profit'
Metaphor explains why to Metaphor, it would be a benefit
ZiprHead claims Metaphor claimed super powers and mocks him for it.

END.

 

[KeepTalking]

The new member of the Avengers, the Super Smeller!

Here's the breakdown for people watching at home:

ZiprHead kvetches that a store separated pet food from human food, doing so 'to maximise profit'
Metaphor explains why to Metaphor, it would be a benefit
ZiprHead claims Metaphor claimed super powers and mocks him for it.

END.

I definitely agree with you here Metaphor. Dog food is smelly, even in an unopened bag. It takes no superpowers to notice this. Whether or not you can smell it from the next aisle over will likely depend on the store you are in, their size, ventilation, etc.

Regardless, some people have a better sense of smell than others, and it once again takes no superpowers. Our senses also tend to dull with age, so given that LP is older than Metaphor (a safe assumption, I think), then it is understandable that Metaphor could smell dog food an aisle away in the same store where LP cannot.

Given all of the above, it is entirely understandable to me that grocery stores would want to keep dog food away from human edible items. This is also what I tend to see in my local supermarkets. They also tend to keep personal hygiene items like deodorant, and perfumes away from the groceries for a similar reason.

 

[ZiprHead]

The new member of the Avengers, the Super Smeller!

Here's the breakdown for people watching at home:

ZiprHead kvetches that a store separated pet food from human food, doing so 'to maximise profit'
Metaphor explains why to Metaphor, it would be a benefit
ZiprHead claims Metaphor claimed super powers and mocks him for it.

END.

I definitely agree with you here Metaphor. Dog food is smelly, even in an unopened bag. It takes no superpowers to notice this. Whether or not you can smell it from the next aisle over will likely depend on the store you are in, their size, ventilation, etc.

Regardless, some people have a better sense of smell than others, and it once again takes no superpowers. Our senses also tend to dull with age, so given that LP is older than Metaphor (a safe assumption, I think), then it is understandable that Metaphor could smell dog food an aisle away in the same store where LP cannot.

Given all of the above, it is entirely understandable to me that grocery stores would want to keep dog food away from human edible items. This is also what I tend to see in my local supermarkets. They also tend to keep personal hygiene items like deodorant, and perfumes away from the groceries for a similar reason.

Metaphor reduced my original statement to attack it. I said the pet food/supplies was in the department next to the grocery department. I never said they were joined aisle by aisle. There was actually a good bit of separation, about thirty feet. Now the separation is about a hundred yards.

 

[TomC]

While the pet food smell issue might be the most boring derail evah,

I was happy when Walmart moved the pet food nearly to the grocery section. It used to be in a far corner, very inconvenient for me. I don't like spending any more time in Walmarts than necessary. But there're a few items I like to get there. They sell the pet food I feed my dogs for a noticably better price than anywhere else. And there's some grocery items my mother-in-law wants I can only get there. Grouping them together works for me. I can get in and out quicker.
Tom

 

[ZiprHead]

While the pet food smell issue might be the most boring derail evah,

I was happy when Walmart moved the pet food nearly to the grocery section. It used to be in a far corner, very inconvenient for me. I don't like spending any more time in Walmarts than necessary. But there're a few items I like to get there. They sell the pet food I feed my dogs for a noticably better price than anywhere else. And there's some grocery items my mother-in-law wants I can only get there. Grouping them together works for me. I can get in and out quicker.
Tom

^^^ This was my complaint too.

 

[KeepTalking]

Metaphor reduced my original statement to attack it. I said the pet food/supplies was in the department next to the grocery department. I never said they were joined aisle by aisle. There was actually a good bit of separation, about thirty feet. Now the separation is about a hundred yards.

I did not catch that nuance in your original post, or at least don't recall it, and I'm not really interested enough to look it up. I will take your word for it. Of course it is a derail, and probably the only thing that got me interested was the mention of super powers.