I was surprised that even here in Portland, OR…not far from downtown…I was on my bicycle and pulled into a small shopping center. I guess you could call it a strip mall, but it was pretty small and completely surrounded by small residential streets.
So imagine my surprise when (a) I couldn’t find any bike parking in front of the main grocery store. I had to walk entirely across the parking lot and over to the side of a dentist’s office. Then (b) I went back to the grocery store and discovered it had no indoor seating. There was plenty of room from what I could tell—they had an entire wall dedicated to greeting cards and another entire wall dedicated to flowers. But nope, nobody can sit here—even though they have a significant large deli! They did offer a very bland outdoor seating area over on the side of the building, but given it’s been windy and a bit drizzly I decided against it. (Also it was deserted for obvious reasons.)
Folks, I am so weary of bike/pedestrian-unfriendly retail. The accommodations car drivers get that we don’t continues to astound me—even in areas which are presumably “progressive”. 🤨
Maybe it’s a PNW thing? Except for a few “big box” chains, virtually every market I can think of with a local flair offers indoor seating here.
Can’t speak for other folks, but I always look for a proper bike rack. Seems like good etiquette.
Sure, but when one doesn’t exist, I’d prefer to park my bike “improperly” than park at another businesses. Personally I think it’s bad etiquette to park at a business I am not going to patronize.