New Jersey Walmart Wants You To Get Exercise By Parking Further Away

We’ve all been there: driving up and down the lanes of the local big box store’s parking lot seeking out the closest spot to the entrance. Now one Walmart store wants you to stop that, you know, in the name of being healthy. 

The New Jersey Herald reports that a local Walmart recently posted signs throughout the store’s parking lot showing customer just how many steps they’ll take by parking there and walking to the entrance.

The eight larger-than-normal parking lot signs are a partnership between the local YMCA’s Healthy Parking Spots Initiative, the Franklin School District, the city’s mayor, and local retailers.

Each sign provides the roundtrip step count from Point A to point B, each ranging from 336 to 692 steps. For example, a trip from one parking spot to Walmart’s sporting goods department and back would rack up 692 steps.

Corey Brown, assistant executive director for the Y, tells the Herald that the sings are a motivator for people because it shows them the health benefits of walking a little further from their car.

The Y plans to expand the Healthy Parking Spots program, which was funded through a two-year grant that provides $10,000 each year, to other retailers and develop incentives for shoppers.

Parking signs at Walmart count steps toward health [New Jersey Herald]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist