Walmart overnight parking

[SuwanneeDave]

Here's the lowdown on how this started. The person that told me this had downloaded a Walmart POI file from POI Factory three days ago. Every store was flagged as 'NOP' meaning No Overnight Parking and he assumed the worst. Today I downloaded a Walmart POI file from POI Factory and found that about one fourth of the stores were flagged NOP. Obviously somebody screwed up at POI Factory. Sorry for the confusion.

Excuse me for being old but what is a POI file and POI factory?

 

[LarsMac]

Excuse me for being old but what is a POI file and POI factory?

see below

POI Files for United States & Elsewhere | POI Factory

www.poi-factory.com

 

[LarsMac]

Walmart corporate policy allows for manager discretion.
Manager discretion also includes "Don't piss off the local Constabulary, or the local Town Council."

And, those no parking signs often are there so that if the manager feels the need to boot someone abusing the privilege, it is easier to get action from said local constabulary.

 

[HueyPilotVN]

Sometimes local campgrounds also influence passing ordinances to discourage free parking as alternatives to their business.

I was told this once by a policeman in a small town.

 

[Onyrlef]

Walmart corporate policy allows for manager discretion.
Manager discretion also includes "Don't piss off the local Constabulary, or the local Town Council."

And, those no parking signs often are there so that if the manager feels the need to boot someone abusing the privilege, it is easier to get action from said local constabulary.

I worked for WalMart Corporation and I promise you no one there, where the mgr. can't wipe his *** without a corporate planogram, has discretion over overnight parking, or otherwise cares. The mgr. there is busy trying to solve the algebraic problem of how to pay one person, who works at half speed and called out anyway, to do the jobs of two people whose positions were eliminated in the latest corporate streamlining optimization, ie., 1/2x(0)×2=3, the WalMart Corporation coefficient for inefficiency.

 

[LarsMac]

I have a few friends who still work for WalMart, and I have been assured that nobody in WM HQ gives a flying flip whether somebody parks overnight at a WalMart Parking lot, unless the local town management or law enforcement has made it an issue.

If local PD tells you that you have to move, no WM manager is going to override them.

Some day, somebody will be parked at a WM, and something bad will happen. They will try to sue WM, and WM HQ will declare that no overnight parking will be permitted at any WM, and that will be the end of overnight parking in Shopping centers all over the country.

 

[johnhicks]

A few years ago NOP signs went up at a new North Georgia Walmart well before the store even opened. The local police chief said "we don't want those elements around."

He made sure the town was just a place to pass through and not spend any time or money at.

 

[LMHS]

Excuse me for being old but what is a POI file and POI factory?

POI = Point Of Interest. The "interest" can be anything. Sales contacts, attractions, places. At minimum a POI file will consist of the LATITUDE and LONGITUDE of a location. The files are usually in a .CSV (Comma Separated Values) and/or .GPX (GPS Exchange Format). Different GPS systems (Garmin, Rand McNally, TomTom, etc) use one of these formats to read the POI files.

POI Factory = a website with many free "POI" files. Some are accurate and others are way off. A lot of these files are no longer kept up like they used to be. It is a lot of work.

 

[LMHS]

We once stopped in at a Walmart in Ft Stockton, TX. We had barely got out of our vehicles when an employee came running out to tell us we couldn't spend the night. That was okay. We weren't there to spend the night. We were there to buy a case of oil. We told this to the employee along with his store manager who showed up to tell us that we that we couldn't spend the night in the parking lot. And then we got back in our vehicles to leave. Manager wanted to know what we were doing. My husband said "Leaving of course. We'll buy the oil at another store farther down the road since you were in such a hurry to make us leave." And we left. We actually had plans to stay at a Cracker Barrel for that night. We never stopped in Ft Stockton ever again. Passed by it, but didn't stop. On the other hand, I've been invited to stay for a week in a Sam's Club parking lot so that we could attend the town's centennial celebration. It sounded really nice but we stupidly felt we needed to head out to NM. Should have stayed in AL. But hindsight is 20/20.

 

[garyb1st]

We've stayed at many Walmarts over the years. Don't always ask permission. However, I look for other RV's parked around the perimeter. When I see that, I just find a spot and park for the night.

According to the posted map, the Barstow Walmart does not allow over night parking. Not sure if things have changed recently, but we stayed there one night about two years ago. We were told by security that we couldn't park there. I checked with the store manager and was told it was fine but to leave early.

 

[Onyrlef]

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We've stayed at many Walmarts over the years. Don't always ask permission. However, I look for other RV's parked around the perimeter. When I see that, I just find a spot and park for the night.

According to the posted map, the Barstow Walmart does not allow over night parking. Not sure if things have changed recently, but we stayed there one night about two years ago. We were told by security that we couldn't park there. I checked with the store manager and was told it was fine but to leave early.

Since retirement 10 yrs. back I've done 4 or 5 temp gigs (seasonal) with WalMart Corp. @ 4 or 5 different locations. I can't speak for all WalMart Corp. locations but in Plano, Tx. at no time ever did anyone care if an RV or two or ten were parked out on the periphery of the parking lot. We are however a very low crime rate city, so that could be a factor.