Why don't they. . .? #1

The modern Big Big-Chain Store is a maze, deliberately designed to lead the customer past as much tempting merchandise as possible. Fair enough. Caveat emptor. If you haven't got a plan and a list, you deserve to be tempted. Shelves are over six feet tall, and other displays tend to be in that range. Again, understandable. Square footage costs money. And those little dark globes high up are security cameras, in case of shoplifting or robbery.

From the management point of view, this is all cutting edge design. From the customer's point of view, it's positively primitive.

How many people come into the stores in pairs and groups? And how many of those groups stay together for the whole visit? So Mary heads to the computer section, picks up the package of ink she needs, and heads back to the cash register. Where is Jack? He said he needed underwear, so Mary heads over to Men's Wear. Neither Mary nor Jack are tall, but eventually she satisfies herself he's not there. Could he be in Seasonal, at the other end of the store, a quarter of a mile or more away? Perhaps he's looking at DVDs back near the computers, but she can't see. Eventually she gives up, cashes out, and leans against the wall near the door for 15 minutes waiting for him.

If it's a grocery store, finding each other is like playing Pacman - she zips up one aisle, while he is going down a parallel one; when she crosses perpendicularly, he is hidden behind one of those displays intended to slow shoppers down.

Perhaps the shoppers are to blame. Part of the shopping routine could be to synchronize watches and agree to meet at a rendezvous in fifteen minutes, finished or not.

Or why don't the designers go one step further and just display the pictures from the multiple security cameras in rotation in a few spots, and save shoppers the wear and tear of hunting for their partners over a few acres of store?