POCKET — A cadre of area Boomers has leveled online attacks at the Nugget Market on Florin Rd., claiming the store’s aisle signs and bright lighting are exacerbating age-related vision problems.
“It’s always so hard to navigate that store,” says Lucille Landline, whose online complaint has accumulated over 80 responses. “The aisle signs are on clear glass panes with orange stained glass aisle numbers, and the product names are in small white letters on dark rectangles embedded in the clear glass panes. The rows of bright lights in the dark ceiling make the glass glare and you have to put a hand up to shade your eyes and then squint to read them,” she says. “Awful for aging or sensitive eyes. Anyone else struggle with this?”
“Nope,” says Victor Vinyl. “Once you shop there enough times, you don’t really need the signs, until the next reset.”
Others agree with Landline’s criticism. “I wear sunglasses in the store,” says Wendy White-Picket. “Until you experience what I do, you’ll never get it. I struggle so I don’t choose Nugget as my primary store. I get too frustrated. They like to change things around too! Why? I complained about it,” White-Picket says.
“I agree with the complaint,” says Robert Retirement. “The aisle signs in Nugget are ridiculous. The reflection of the surface behind the white lettering makes the signs very difficult to read. Nugget should hire a professional sign company to remake the signs.”
One Boomer, Tom Timeshare, offers practical advice: “You can also determine whether you have the right aisle by looking at the items on the shelf,” he says. “That’s what I often do.”
“People who know the store obviously have no problem because they don’t use the signs,” says Landline. “I think the store went too far in the direction of…rustic? Not sure how to define it, but a type of decor that they thought was more visually appealing, without considering the comfort level of many shoppers whose eyesight is not as sharp as it could be.”
Several Boomers have reported taking their sensitive eyes— and their business—elsewhere. “That is why we shop at Bel Air,” says Patti Pension. “Nugget carries some things I like that Bel Air doesn’t, so I still have to shop there sometimes. It’s really annoying.”
Landline plans to contact the store’s management in the future, and hopes other Boomers will do the same. “If more people contacted management about issues like this they are much more likely to change. I’m tired of hearing ‘no one else is complaining’ because I’m the only one who speaks up, when in fact many others may feel the same way.”
“I’ve also had problems in the past reading the aisle signs in Nugget,” says Daniel DeLorean, “but I was in Nugget tonight and found most of the signs easier to read than they were previously. I wonder if the complaints have produced some improvements.”
Nugget has yet to respond to the nextdoor.com complaint thread, and the signs have not been changed.
“The signs are absolutely useless,” Landline says. “Gosh, I hope the new store will be more user friendly.”
—Nextdoor News Network