I also wonder if refurbishing is seen as an individual (or small business) thing, while demolishing and building new is seen as the corporate thing to do. Almost this sense of “the real movers and shakers in this world don’t waste time or money on remodeling” and maybe an idea that the way to demonstrate brand is to make everything in your business image, not fit yourself into other molds. (Also, I get the idea that it’s harder in a larger corporation to tackle the small details of a thing, easier to have a standard, almost bulk, way of doing something than it is to take each situation into special consideration -- even if that means a lot of costly wastefulness)
Final thought — Could the Henry Ford assembly line concept also be at play here to some degree? Making all stores to the same design so no customization is required? That sounds a bit laughable to me considering how different each BigBox store’s layout can be from any other’s in its chain (just because it’s another Safeway doesn’t mean I’ll be able to go right in and quickly put my hands on what I need!). But human logic is often a bit disjointed from itself: it’s possible that Henry Ford assembly-line logic influences the construction in spite of the fact that customization, local market needs, and store-personality logic influences the day-to-day layout and stocking decisions.
In the long run, it is cheaper to knock down a building than have to build within the constraints of a standing building. Makes no sense to me but I am not the one making the decisions.
Sheetz stations have 6-10 pumps. They get people on the ground with cheaper gas and then sell them LOTS of things from the store. They also need a big footprint for the store as they generally have a huge lunch crowd.
I also wonder if refurbishing is seen as an individual (or small business) thing, while demolishing and building new is seen as the corporate thing to do. Almost this sense of “the real movers and shakers in this world don’t waste time or money on remodeling” and maybe an idea that the way to demonstrate brand is to make everything in your business image, not fit yourself into other molds. (Also, I get the idea that it’s harder in a larger corporation to tackle the small details of a thing, easier to have a standard, almost bulk, way of doing something than it is to take each situation into special consideration -- even if that means a lot of costly wastefulness)
Final thought — Could the Henry Ford assembly line concept also be at play here to some degree? Making all stores to the same design so no customization is required? That sounds a bit laughable to me considering how different each BigBox store’s layout can be from any other’s in its chain (just because it’s another Safeway doesn’t mean I’ll be able to go right in and quickly put my hands on what I need!). But human logic is often a bit disjointed from itself: it’s possible that Henry Ford assembly-line logic influences the construction in spite of the fact that customization, local market needs, and store-personality logic influences the day-to-day layout and stocking decisions.
In the long run, it is cheaper to knock down a building than have to build within the constraints of a standing building. Makes no sense to me but I am not the one making the decisions.
Sheetz stations have 6-10 pumps. They get people on the ground with cheaper gas and then sell them LOTS of things from the store. They also need a big footprint for the store as they generally have a huge lunch crowd.