The 'green' Walmart vs. The 'blue' Walmart

Editor's note: We receive a lot of traffic on this post...please add your comment to the post.  Let us know why your interest was peaked and if the post answered the question you were searching for so we can update the post. Thx!

------------------------------------

In our family, we have to name things. For instance, Shawnie has become quite the adventurous cook. Many nights she'll whip up something with nothing more than a prompting from a couple different recipes. However, once the casserole hits the table, the reaction is always the same, "Mom, what's this called?" Generally to get Megan to like it, the name must include the word casserole. Brittany wants a name which is properly descriptive of the dinner. Josh will go for anything, but the name can't be disliked by the others. Paul doesn't really understand, but he likes to raise his hand to show his support.

In the same naming vein, the stores we frequent often have some descriptive name or attribute which is used to describe the location. Living in a large suburb, there are a large number of grocery stores within a couple miles of home. We have a Kroger, Tom Thumb, Super Target, and a couple Walmart stores. Up the road a little ways there is also an Albertsons and Cosco.

Each store markets to a different clientelle and this is not lost on the children. For instance, Tom Thumb caters to those in our midst whose homes are likely worth something close to seven figures (a feat not easily achieved in our housing market). The children like the store because they have tiny, kid-sized shopping carts. We generally only go there because our bank has its closest branch in the store (and they sell a brand of Bleu Cheese dressing I like). As for the other stores, Kroger is the store which has shopping carts that look like cars. Target has the SUV sized shopping carts in which all of the children can ride. But Walmart has something different.

Walmart has two stores within a mile of our home. To the east of us is a Marketplace Walmart and to the west is a Super Walmart. The Super Walmart is what most people recognize as a Walmart store. A mega-store with everything you'd ever think of needing under one roof. The store is generally designed using the Walmart blue color pallette and lives up to every expectation anyone has ever attributed to Walmart. When we want the full Walmart experience, this is where we shop -- the 'blue' Walmart.

On the other end of the Walmart shopping experience is the Marketplace Walmart (the 'green' Walmart). Don't let the name and description fool you. The shopping experience is all Walmart, just the color and size don't meet expectations. The Marketplace Walmart is a store maybe twice the size of a CVS or other pharmacy/drug store. The store only stocks groceries and some drug store items. It allows those loyal to Walmart a store in closer proximity with all of the staples, sans the 10 miles of walking from one end of the store to the other.

As for the names, I think Josh was the first to point out the differences in colors to me. I knew that there were two Walmarts but it took a three-year-old to point out the color differences.

Of special note here, the first descriptive names for the stores was not blue and green. In fact, at first we unsuccessfully tried using big and small as descriptors. After trying to refer to the Marketplace Walmart as the "small Walmart" and the Super Walmart as the "big Walmart" the descriptions didn't seem to fit well. How can you compare this "big Walmart" to another "big Walmart?" Sometimes the "big Walmarts" weren't the same size. For instance another Super Walmart on the way to the mall is much larger than the Super Walmart in Mansfield.

With that recognition, a new naming discussion meeting was held. The committee bounced around numerous ideas, but finally settled on the color distinctions. This allowed for size differences, but provided sufficient lattitude for minor discrepencies among the Walmart stores frequented by the children. (for instance the Super Walmart near Grandma's in Houston, or the Walmart we stopped at in the Texas Panhandle to get gas. Or the one in Colorado which provided a bathroom break, etc.) Rigorous testing was used to determine the naming scheme.

So going to Walmart will never be the same for me. Now I ahve to ask, which Walmart should we go to, the 'blue' Walmart or the 'green' one?