Empty space

When my mother became ill many years ago she went into a newly built hospital. The entrance was a huge hall with a very high ceiling and nothing much else except a strange, massive, architecturally designed clock that nobody could read. The wards were so small and badly designed that they had to take the doors off permanently to enable beds to be wheeled in. There was no room for bedside storage cabinets so they had baskets to fit on the ends of the beds.

Unfortunately the nurses could not properly access the beds with these attached so they had to be moved elsewhere for storage. Only one visitor could sit as there was no room for more chairs.

I think they have demolished it now and built a new hospital. What a waste of our money!!

There is space and s p a c e
Halifax Guildford could host the next Winter games and you'd still need binoculars to see the action.

There is a shop in a city in NE Scotland that is the most cluttered shop that you could ever find. It is very Dickensian. It sells walking/hiking gear, and must have stock going back years and years. When you look in through the door, it is so piled up with stuff that you can't see any light, and it appears closed. I did go in looking for a rucksack of a particular size. Amazingly, after the assistant went off searching, he returned, saying that they didn't have one! It is so full of stuff that it is actually funny, but the fact that there is so little space that it's impossible to wander round. More than two customers at a time would be a crowd. Maybe this shop is familiar to others.

I can't stand TK-Max !

I went into a Sports Direct once, turned tail and walked out again. Awful place.

This has reminded me of Victoria Beckham's 'shop' in London. I assume it's London. I think you have to ring a bell in a certain way and then do the necessary handshake before they allow you in.

Dreadful place. Dark with a couple of dresses and some shoes and a bag.

I prefer room to be able to move around. M&S food halls always tend to be far too small.

But little knick knack shops selling unusual merchandise can be as crammed as they like.

Just depends what I'm buying I suppose.

I can't stand a cluttered shop. Hate Sports Direct. DH loves it, but I have to get out after about 5 mins.

I really like going into uncluttered shops. It makes it so much easier to really look at the merchandise.

I remember taking my sister shopping in a wheelchair and it was a nightmare steering her round the clothes racks in many shops.

Food hall in M&S. Have you ever tried to manoeuvre a wheelchair with a trolley attached around one of these. When I volunteered with WVS it was a nightmare. I had quite a large lady who enjoyed doing her shopping in M&S. I was exhausted on the days I took her around for her shopping. Thank goodness for shops with space to move around with prams and wheelchairs.

HannahLoisLuke , that Armani exhibition sounds wonderful. I would love to aspire to have my home like that, but, I have too many things that I love, and want to see them around me. (I'm not as bad as Charles Wade, yet).

RosieLeah, yes it's interesting how we are all different, but isn't that wonderful?i

If you like things crowded I recommend Snowshill Manor in the Cotswolds.
It was the home of avid collector Charles Wade and every room is stuffed with everything you can think of. Each room does have a theme but there's so much there that you'd need a week to see it all.
He moved out to a little hovel in the yard but soon filled that as well. Facinating.
Lovely gardens too.

I've also seen the Armarni exhibition at the Guggenheim in Bilbao and that was the total opposite. One exquisite dress per room, displayed in darkness inside a glass case and lit so it sparkled.

It's interesting that there have been different reactions to this. Obviously shop-keepers want to lure shoppers inside and persuade them to spend money. It's not quite as simple as putting things on the shelves and hoping they will appeal to customers. You have to use psychology. I wonder how much our preference reflects our personalities. Some prefer a shop bursting with merchandise...others prefer a select few items on display. Perhaps cluttered means cheap....scarcity means expensive?

Being brought up one of six kids...and a grannie...in a 3 bedroom house...space means everything to me. I knew I was a minimalist from age 12...much to annoyance if my husband who is a clutterer-up of space...he can’t abide an empty wall...surface...table-top...floor ...sideboard...In his mind everything needs to be covered over. I walk away from a cleared coffee table , and 10 mins later he’s covered it with ‘stuff’. It’s a wonder we’re still together ...I loathe clutter!

Our new Sainsburys opened laty year,it is a huge space when entering, the aisles are lovely and wdse and there is a great assortment but there doesnt ever seem to be anyone there shoping, and nobody to ask, its quite eerie, but the shopping and check out is done quickly.

In my childhood very expensive shops - the kind we only looked at - only ever had a very few items in their windows and plenty of empty space between items inside.

The opposite end of the scale was Woolworth's where you couldn't see the shelves or counters for merchandise. Or the Barras (street market in Glasgow on Saturdays and Sundays)

I think empty space is to enable wheelchair and mobility scooters to manoeuvre safely.

I used to teach marketing and when talking about advertising I always spoke about the white space rule, the more of it in an advertisement the greater the chance of it being read and any message being received by the target audience.

gillybob

The more shop space = the higher the price?.

What on earth is the objection of things being displayed with space around them?
Look at galleries and museums- they display their treasures with thought for the effect.
Do you want a return to overstuffed Victorian decor, shops so crammed full you couldn’t see what you were looking for?

Perhaps the use of space in the expensive shops says something about the sense of style they reflect.

I think the empty space when entering a supermarket is there to allow people to enter and exit easily.

I am another who hates crowded shops - if everything is crammed in I begin to feel slightly claustrophobic. I can't imagine how difficult it must be for someone in a wheelchair or with a pram.

Space, the final frontier

I like space.

I much prefer a crammed shop...it's just crying out to be explored. If I entered a half-empty shop, I would think they were closing down. It would also make me feel conspicuous and I would feel obliged to buy something even if I had only called in to browse.

I dislike shops where all the merchandise is crammed in. If there’s no space for me to examine things, I leave.

Our Sainsburys is like that. There is a huge open space as you walk in. My DH reckons they must use it as a ball room after closing.