Overwhelming Stores

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Yesterday, I was at IKEA, and I haven't been there in a long time. If you've never been in IKEA, it's a home furnishing store/warehouse/showroom. It's pretty bright, colorful, loud and busy. After not having anxiety/SO in a long time, I had it yesterday and I remember how much I hate it.

Are there any stores/places that give you guys anxiety or sensory overload?

Stores in general, honestly.

Just do online shopping. You can get almost anything.

Every store I go to causes sensory overload. Sometimes the overload causes anxiety or panic, sometimes not.

I haven't been to one in a long time that doesn't.

I *love* IKEA. It's a store I can get lost in for hours. The sales people don't bother you much, you can wander around and play with things and adjust things and no one bugs you about it. I also can use it to create elaborate post-apocalyptic scenarios and stories in my head. Yeah, I adore going to big stores like that. They're full of imagination fuel.

Xinro - me too! IKEA is the only store I actually can stand and not only do I like it, I love it! I like the left-to-yourself do-it-yourself aspect and the efficient little model apartments and the clear line that prevents the aimless back-and-forth wandering that can happen at any other store. And their cafeteria! And all the Swedish names that make even the labels interesting! Wow, so great to hear from a fellow IKEA lover!

I have synesthesia, and certain stores are colors to me.

Wal-Mart can be terrible for me to go to. It can be too noisy and terribly bright. And the people everywhere can be quite the challenge. Wal-Mart to me is the color white---a piercing white that is hard to penetrate.

Lowes can also be uncomfortable for me, but not as bad as Wal-Mart. But when the fork lifts are moving down aisles with those loud beeps---that can get to me. And I also find the loud computer-voiced intercom echoing across the store to be bothersome. Lowes is a supersaturated clearness to me---a pure, nearly colorless void.

K-Mart offers me comfort, though there are a few times when it can be challenging---during busy times around the holidays. I am probably influenced by the Blue Light Specials of yesteryear and the current blue light bulb mascot, because K-Mart is a warm, comforting blue to me.

The one store that I can't handle being in is The Real Canadian Superstore. I like to call it The Real Canadian Stupid Store. It's way too busy in there for me to get my grocery shopping done. Dean and I used to take an ex-friend to get her groceries at Superstore every Saturday until she wrote us all off.

Oh yes---grocery stores. That can be horrible for me---especially Kroger's. I hate going to Kroger's. Like you CockneyRebel, the busy crowd is too much for me. I can almost get in a panic in there when it's busy. I prefer grocery shopping in our small markets in the little town I live in, but my wife likes the variety of the bigger stores.

i hate going to 'No Frills'. it's always way too crouded and if you stop to look at something you become one of the 'idiots' blocking off the isle so you have to keep walking and just grab something even if you aren't sure it's the one you want. EVERYTHING is bright yellow and the light are so bright. They move their weekly specials off the shelves and put them in their own special spots around the store so you have to always keep an eye out to find them and then when you finally get to the cash you have to bag your own groceries which i hate doing because it takes me forever. i have to shop there though because i'm on a limited income and i have to provide for all 6 of us on what i have which wouldn't be possible at other grocery stores. i do try to get my produce and meat fresh in the summer at the farmers market. it's quiet there, the people are friendly and the food is so much better.

No.

When I went to IKEA for the very first time, it was like a playground and a mall. It was busy and packed and it wasn't like any store and it has fake rooms for display; fake bedrooms, fake kitchens, etc. I thought the furniture was neat and they had a day care there and the items are inexpensive. We got our nursery furniture set there for all under $600. But we had to put it together. I also liked how you can write down the furniture code you want and how visual the instructions were and it came with it's own tools to use and nails and screws. It was awesome.

There is a chain of stores here called WinCo, and I absolutely hated shopping there. The way the interior was decorated felt too cold and industrial, and the lighting cast this hideous shade of yellow on everything. The aisles were cramped as well. I had many a meltdown after shopping there. Eventually we quit shopping there once WalMart came to Idaho.

My parents were puzzled as to why I hated WinCo so much, but after I was diagnosed as being on the autistic spectrum, they understood that it was sensory overload.

Grocery stores drive me crazy. Everything is so bright white. And I don't know if it's like this everywhere or not, but where I live, for some reason a lot of rude old people (I've got nothing against old people, just the ones who do things like this) enjoy just hanging around the stores all day long... just standing there in the middle of the aisles, talking to each other and blocking the way. So I end up having to struggle to keep myself from screaming at them when I just want to get my stuff, get out of there, and get on with my day.

I can usually tolerate IKEA just because it is so spread out. That way I don't feel like everyone is breathing down my neck.

Grocery stores are the worst for me. If there are more than 2 carts on a row I simply avoid going down it, even if I need something on that row. I just walk around until the people leave that row. I prefer 24 hour groceries where I can go late at night in peace. I also have to go to a store that uses self check-out. I love self check-out.

I also hate retail stores like Best Buy. 1. They are usually crowded 2. The employees practically throw themselves at you multiple times. I wish there was a "leave me alone" arm band at those places.

Pretty cool to hear from the synnies

My IKEA is always really, really busy, so maybe it's just different for me. Everyone's unique!

I forgot to mention that Costco is another one that I could feel anxious in. Too many bright lights.