Let me first ask you a question, dear reader.

Where do you prefer to buy your clothes at: a thrift store or a big, multi-million dollar retail store?

Now, everyone who reads this will all have different answers. Some will say they prefer local thrift stores that the townsfolk only know, or with the big, super well-known stores that are everywhere across the globe. Or maybe, they’ll answer that they don’t buy them at any physical stores and just do it online. Whatever the answer may be, there’s no correct answer.

We all have our own preferences, and that’s totally normal. We either like thrift stores because they’re cheaper, or the retail chain because they have the newest, latest pieces of clothing, not having to worry about small tears and wears. Even the sizes of the very buildings sort of… well, build on to that.

Take for example, Walmart. The moment you step into that bright blue and grey building, you get hit with a blast of air conditioning, a complete contrast to the hot weather you were melting in 5 seconds ago. The floor is shiny and brand new, there’s corporate-designed signs everywhere, telling you exactly where the fruits are, where the vegetables are, literally where everything is at. The self-checkout lines are to your left, and on the right, the deli.

Then you get to your local thrift store, like Blake’s House (the one on South Park Street), for instance. It’s smaller than Walmart, there’s categorization of where things are at, sure, but nowhere near as corporate as the bigger stores. It almost feels as if you’re walking into someone’s home for their indoor yard sale. It doesn’t treat you like another customer adding more money to the pockets of millionaires, it treats you like a neighbor of sorts. You might as well actually find your neighbor there shopping, actually.

But that’s the point, don’t you think? While yes, both stores are meant to be places for people to shop to, Blake’s House is more community centered, with the items they have for sale being things the people in our town donated to the store. Meanwhile, stores like Walmart get their products from networks across the globe, with them having over 100,000 suppliers and manufacturers helping them bring their products into all stores. There’s only two Blake Houses’ in Carrollton as of today, with small amounts of employees working at them, compared to the millions of employees Walmart has.

On the topic of size, Blake’s Houses’ building, as I mentioned earlier, is small. I mean, it’s expected, since it has to share spaces with two other stores and Little Caesars. You’d think that for a space like that, you’d find what you need quicker, right?

Eh, not really… and I say that as someone with experience. Whether it was endlessly rummaging through toy bins to find at least ONE Transformers toy (usually it’s a last resort and if I’m REALLY desperate), trying to figure out where in the world were the shirts that actually fit me, or untangling the never-ending supply of wires in the technology bin, the list goes on and on. The organization is, sure, pretty good for a store of its size.

As for Walmart, with such a massive interior design, you’d think it’d be difficult to navigate though the building even with the signs hanging around. But nope, I know exactly where the toy aisle (L12, by the way) is and I can happily walk there to find the next toy intended for 8 year old boys to spend my hard earned money on! 

Oh, and my parents know where to find their vegetables too, I guess.

Now, where am I going with this?

As I’ve mentioned before, the structure of these stores are different, from the paint job, to the layout design, and the sizes of the buildings. You may not pay attention to all of it, but, I want you, for just a second, to focus on those aspects more.

What you may not realize is that these spaces, in a way, control the way you act, and no, it’s not with some micro-chip implanted in your brain or whatever that one uncle keeps saying. It’s the way they articulately design the place to make you feel a certain way and the way you interact with their items. With our Walmart store, all of the food and medicine is placed right in front of the two doors, with all the technology, toys, and clothes being more at the back. For example, where we have our dairy products, we also have the baby products, the shoes, and the technology nearby. It almost feels like looking for treasure, with the way you consciously wander across the aisles before something catches your eye. And you know how there’s always candy at the checkouts? It tempts you with the candy’s bright packaging, guaranteeing a sweet treat, and next thing you know, you added a pack of skittles to the cart.

I can even attest to that, whenever my parents pass by all the technology, the main thing I’m most drawn by is their music catalog, which is also nearby and almost a mini-section of sorts. Even if there is no huge sign like with the aisles, the neatly placed cds and albums, all featuring some sort of visually appealing cover, it makes you want to take a closer look, no? It makes it even more tempting if you’re someone, like me, who loves CDs and buys them to have a collection of sorts.

But for Blake’s House, EVERYTHING catches your eye. The neatly placed furniture at the very front of the store, the jewelry near the cash register, and the clothes stored at the back of the store. You do the same thing as you’d do in Walmart, searching through everywhere for an item. But here, it feels different.

For Walmart, you’re just another customer, another person giving more money to a multi-million dollar company. 

In Blake’s House, it makes you feel more… connected with the items they have for sale.

Because these items aren’t just products delivered from another massive company, all of these items once belonged to someone else in the town. That sparkly purple dress you see? It might’ve been used by a teen for prom night? Those VHS tapes of the movie Titanic? It may have belonged to a small boy who’s now all grown up, working and maintaining for his family. Everything you see in the store once belonged to someone many years ago, whether they’re still here or not. 

That idea kept in the back of your mind makes you interact with the items more differently. A more cautious and tender interaction with them. Sure, that plushie of a yellow dinosaur you saw out of the corner in your eye might not be interesting to you, but it sure was for little Timmy all those years ago, and it’ll bring joy to another kid again.

The interior design of the places we go to buy things really do shape the way we behave as people, and what interactions we have with them. Whether it’s a small, local store, like Blake’s House or a big, multi-million dollar company, like Walmart, they offer the same ideas while executing them differently. With Blake’s House, we become more connected with the people in our community, we buy things that once belonged to those in our town, unlike being sent by suppliers. But, you’d risk a 50% chance of buying an extremely worn item that’s lived WAY more than it should be. Walmart, on the other hand, favors people constantly buying from their stores, always guaranteeing “Low Prices. Everyday.”  I mean, who wouldn’t want to buy the latest cool shirt, knowing it hasn’t been worn and doesn’t have those small tears.

What both stores do accomplish is that everyday, people go into their buildings and buy what they need or what makes them happy. And you know what? Good for them.