Nick Dyer- Blog 8

If you think of a grocery store chain and what their stores look like, there are always similarities. Most Shaw's stores look the same, most Stop & Shop stores look the same, even other department stores have similarities (i.e. Dick's, Bob's, etc.) The reason for this is because people recognize the stores. They want to see something that they know. It's a comfort thing. But I've noticed a break in the pattern when it comes to Whole Foods Markets. This is an up and coming food chain that is all about natural foods and reusable materials. When a new whole foods is put in, i believe the intention is to use the existing building instead of demolishing and rebuilding in order to create a store that looks exactly like the others. So the result, are buildings that tell a story. Buildings that show a piece of what used to be. One store shown in the top middle of the image, looks as though the building was once a movie theatre. and instead of taking down this big towering icon off of the building, they used it to their advantage. Someone might see that from a distance and say, "hey what is that? it looks like a movie theatre!" and their friend would say "ah yes! it used to be, but now its the Whole Foods Market!" so this towering icon that reaches into the sky was once an icon for something else, but now an icon that everyone knows to be Whole Foods just because they chose to leave that piece of history.