I feel like there are fewer 24-hour stores now than when I was a kid.

Princess Alice · 2017-02-18 05:29:40

When I was a kid, all the Kroger and Big Bear stores I knew of were open 24 hours. The idea that a Wal-Mart may not be open 24 hours was completely foreign to me.

Now there's no Big Bear, most Kroger stores close at 1 AM, and even the Walmart nearest me isn't open 24 hours.

What gives?

glennmagusharvey · 2017-02-18 05:30:20

i thought only 7-11 and mcdonald's did this 24-hour thing

Anonus · 2017-02-18 05:35:25

cost-cutting

Salix Babylonika · 2017-02-18 05:41:38

not profitable anymore

Imipolex G · 2017-02-18 05:42:21

When I was a kid, 24-hour stores were a rare thing. In fact I'm not sure I had ever heard of them.

What I'm saying is, kids these days

eriophora zia · 2017-02-18 05:43:27

I am glad it's a trend we're moving away from. I don't think it's good to make employees work night/early morning shifts regularly like that. If they're students, it's hard on their sleep schedule, which is hard on their academics. If they're adults, it's taking them away from their family. Might be fine for a single adult, but even then it's taking away opportunities to network and make friends with other adults...

Bee · 2017-02-18 07:22:57

On the other hand, those shifts are entire job positions, which we are sorely in need of.

I actually wouldn't mind a night shift too much. It means I can get off work right when everyone else is starting, so everything's not fucking closed by the time I can do my own shopping.

Salix Babylonika · 2017-02-18 07:31:14

I used to work overnights at Wegman's and the actual job part was fine, but we sold liquor so you had drunk people stumbling in to buy like, a case of Shock Tops at 2am, and it was not a pretty thing.

lee4hmz · 2017-02-18 07:32:27

I am guessing shit like that is why Virginia doesn't allow overnight alcohol sales...

Salix Babylonika · 2017-02-18 07:32:57

I also had a guy threaten to beat me up once because we were out of brazil nuts.

Princess Alice · 2017-02-18 07:33:03

Bee said:
On the other hand, those shifts are entire job positions, which we are sorely in need of.

See, that's what I was thinking. It's not ideal for a lot of people, but there are a lot of people for whom working an overnight shift would be preferable to not having a job at all.

Plus also it would be nice to have places to shop when my manic episodes have me wide awake at 4 AM.

lee4hmz · 2017-02-18 07:33:12

:(

lee4hmz · 2017-02-18 07:34:39

The closest I've come to witnessing violence at a grocery store was when I saw two guys screaming at each other at the top of their lungs outside a Food Lion in Manassas. It scared the crap out of me.

lee4hmz · 2017-02-18 07:35:49

Also, when I was checking out at Wegmans yesterday, someone was having a huge soap-opera fit about...something.

Fossilmaiden · 2017-02-18 07:35:54

lee4hmz said:
I am guessing shit like that is why Virginia doesn't allow overnight alcohol sales...

In England, the standard licence permits the sale of alcohol until 23:00, but licence holders can apply for an extension, and 24 hour licences do exist (although they're pretty rare).

lee4hmz · 2017-02-18 07:37:53

Around here, beer, wine and "flavored malt beverages" are liberally licensed and most grocery stores and convenience stores sell them, but not after midnight. Hard liquor is ABC and is only sold in stores run by the Virginia government.

lee4hmz · 2017-02-18 07:39:06

The rules are, of course, completely different in Maryland and DC, and may even vary by county in MD. One big difference is that private liquor stores are allowed in MD and DC, but sales of beer and wine outside of them may be limited in various odd ways (or so I've heard; I understand Montgomery County's rules about it are quite confusing).

Calica · 2017-02-18 07:56:25

in California I think stores are banned from selling alcohol from 2am to 6am

Anonus · 2017-02-18 10:49:56

Central Avenue said:

Bee said:
On the other hand, those shifts are entire job positions, which we are sorely in need of.
See, that's what I was thinking. It's not ideal for a lot of people, but there are a lot of people for whom working an overnight shift would be preferable to not having a job at all.

Plus also it would be nice to have places to shop when my manic episodes have me wide awake at 4 AM.

See, I'm not allowed to drive after dark/after my mom goes to bed

glennmagusharvey · 2017-02-18 15:09:44

I wonder if Connecticut's "blue laws" forbidding alcohol sales on Sundays are still in effect.

Sredni Vashtar · 2017-02-18 18:12:30

The ones in Pennsylvania are.

Odradek · 2017-02-18 18:18:29

We can't have alcohol in grocery stores either

eriophora zia · 2017-02-18 18:32:29

Bee said:
On the other hand, those shifts are entire job positions, which we are sorely in need of.

I actually wouldn't mind a night shift too much. It means I can get off work right when everyone else is starting, so everything's not fucking closed by the time I can do my own shopping.

I am torn on this sort of thing, since there's a fine line between "anything to create another job" and things that are overall bad for society as a whole. I mean, night shifts obviously aren't on the scale of unregulated dangerous factories that don't pay anything or whatever, but still.

I tend to be OK with trends that make for better lives for workers.

glennmagusharvey · 2017-02-18 19:05:45

In Connecticut, grocery stores could carry alcohol but they had tarps covering the alcohol sections on Sundays. It was rather amusing.

Sredni Vashtar · 2017-02-18 19:08:33

eriophora zia said:

Bee said:
On the other hand, those shifts are entire job positions, which we are sorely in need of.

I actually wouldn't mind a night shift too much. It means I can get off work right when everyone else is starting, so everything's not fucking closed by the time I can do my own shopping.
I am torn on this sort of thing, since there's a fine line between "anything to create another job" and things that are overall bad for society as a whole. I mean, night shifts obviously aren't on the scale of unregulated dangerous factories that don't pay anything or whatever, but still.

I tend to be OK with trends that make for better lives for workers.

I mean, night shifts are honestly really unhealthy, but I'm more for those than I am, say, new jobs in the health insurance industry...

Princess Alice · 2017-02-18 19:10:57

I think some 24-hour stores, at least, fulfill a legitimate need. Like, there have been times when I get sick in the middle of the night and I'm really thankful for the 24-hour CVS up the street where I can go get medicine.

Bee · 2017-02-18 19:22:54

Central Avenue said:
I think some 24-hour stores, at least, fulfill a legitimate need. Like, there have been times when I get sick in the middle of the night and I'm really thankful for the 24-hour CVS up the street where I can go get medicine.

This. You don't need a 24-hour Best Buy or anything, but 24-hour corner stores, pharmacies, and the occasional restaurant are kind of important, especially for travelers.

Sredni Vashtar · 2017-02-18 20:48:29

Agreed.

Princess Alice · 2017-02-18 20:49:38

Now I'm thinking of the time in 2010 when my family ate at a McDonald's off I-75 near Berea, Kentucky at like 1 AM.

That was fun; the place was surprisingly busy.

Klinotaxis · 2017-02-18 20:54:02

the grocery store near my apartment was open 24/7. sometimes i'd walk home drunk at 2 AM and buy eggs for breakfast. maybe it's just cos it's a college town and that course of action makes sense to students

Sredni Vashtar · 2017-02-18 20:54:47

Getting fast food from truck stops in the wee small hours during road trips is a genuinely fun experience.

lee4hmz · 2017-02-18 21:35:26

I remember seeing a concept once for a grocery store that could be partially shut down and operate as a convenience store/corner store overnight. I'm surprised that's not more common.

Sredni Vashtar · 2017-02-18 21:40:04

Same.

glennmagusharvey · 2017-02-18 21:40:50

lee4hmz said:
I remember seeing a concept once for a grocery store that could be partially shut down and operate as a convenience store/corner store overnight. I'm surprised that's not more common.

#ideasformyfantasycity

Anonus · 2017-02-18 21:55:31

Central Avenue said:
Now I'm thinking of the time in 2010 when my family ate at a McDonald's off I-75 near Berea, Kentucky at like 1 AM.

That was fun; the place was surprisingly busy.

2010?

Princess Alice · 2017-02-18 22:34:01

lee4hmz said:
I remember seeing a concept once for a grocery store that could be partially shut down and operate as a convenience store/corner store overnight. I'm surprised that's not more common.

CA Marketplace is stealing this, thanks

Anonus said:

Central Avenue said:
Now I'm thinking of the time in 2010 when my family ate at a McDonald's off I-75 near Berea, Kentucky at like 1 AM.

That was fun; the place was surprisingly busy.

2010?

Yeah. My sister wanted to hang out with her friends in Georgia so we agreed to meet roughly halfway, in Kentucky.

On the way back there was a massive storm and we had to pull off the Interstate and wait at a truck stop until it passed.

buttercrispy · 2017-02-18 22:35:56

My mom used to go grocery shopping at like 4-5 am at the 24-hr kroger because mania too! I got to go with once because I asked her where she went in the middle of the night after I woke up from a nightmare one time and she asked if I wanted to come with.

My dad worked night shift as a stocker at Meijer when we hit a very rough spot and that turned my sister sour against Meijer because Dad was formerly in charge of reading and singing at bedtime and now he could not.

I'm a fan of late night pharmacy/corner store availability just cause I am out and about in the wee hours and it is a comfort to have the ability to go get like, meds or pedialyte and graham crackers when I wake up in the middle of the night apropos of nothing to hurl.

Princess Alice · 2017-02-18 22:43:15

buttercrispy said:
My mom used to go grocery shopping at like 4-5 am at the 24-hr kroger because mania too! I got to go with once because I asked her where she went in the middle of the night after I woke up from a nightmare one time and she asked if I wanted to come with.

I should get in touch with other people who have bipolar, because it wouldn't surprise me if the late-night manic shopping was a common experience.

Sredni Vashtar · 2017-02-18 22:48:40

Walking somewhere to buy things at weird hours was my go-to "please let me be anywhere but here" reaction for years. I wouldn't be surprised if some of those episodes were a consequence of brain chemistry in addition to my situation.

lee4hmz · 2017-02-18 22:55:52

During the tail end of my days at Tech, I had gone full recluse and only came out at night to find food. I remember taking the bus to the Kroger at University Mall expressly to get some Chef Boyardee at some bizarre hour (it was well after dark).

I feel like there are fewer 24-hour stores now than when I was a kid.

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