Shopping is harder than it should be for customers with mobility challenges
On a recent Saturday in Buckhead, I watched a woman in a wheelchair inch past a promotional display that had narrowed a grocery aisle to a tight squeeze.
The store looked orderly, the promotion was eye-catching and yet the path barely left enough room for a wheelchair. By the time she cleared the display, she had likely abandoned a few items on her list and cut the trip short.
Anyone who shops with a stroller, uses a cane or knee scooter, helps an aging parent or guides a curious 5 year-old has probably felt a similar moment when a simple errand becomes an obstacle course.
As the owner of an Atlanta-based company focused on commercial restroom accessibility, I hear stories like this every single day. Stores are packed to the brim with products and promotions, but those same businesses are leaving money on the table by inadvertently turning customers away.
These two factors often stump retail leaders
Despite the ever-growing prevalence of e-commerce, 84% of retail spending still happens in physical stores, which means the details of the in-store experience decide whether a trip feels easy or exhausting.
When entrances are cluttered, aisles pinch to single file or a restroom is set up for only average-height adults, people buy less or go elsewhere. Families plan their routes around the places that work.
Though inaccessible shopping is rarely an issue of motive or intent, shoppers feel the outcome either way. Luckily, one thing has become very clear to me. You — the shopper — have the power to drive change.
When a store planner or architect reaches out to me to talk about improving accessibility, it’s almost always because a shopper spoke up to their local store manager or filled out a comment card online. Making suggestions about what a store can do better may feel like shouting into the void, but trust me, retailers take your feedback seriously.
In my work with retail leaders in Georgia, I’ve found that most accessibility issues boil down to one of two things: a lack of awareness of the problem or a misunderstanding of the cost to solve it.
Store managers don’t realize that an eye-catching display is blocking access to certain products for those using mobility aids. Or they may recognize that the store restroom isn’t set up well for families, but they assume that a full restroom remodel is the only solution.
Retailers are making efforts to meet the need
As a shopper, there are a lot of reasons to be optimistic. Major retailers like Walmart, CVS and Starbucks have put competition aside and joined forces to create The Access Coalition, with the stated purpose of making retail spaces more accessible by expanding on the guidelines set out by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In our backyard, Georgia’s Jet Food Stores installed retractable step stools in customer restrooms this summer. They didn’t just help children reach the sink — they aided every parent, friend and caregiver as well.
For businesses, the case for small adjustments is as practical as it is humane.
Clear routes shorten the time it takes to move through a store, reachable fixtures reduce strain and hesitation and bathrooms that work for families prevent the kind of bottlenecks that derail an otherwise smooth visit.
People return to places that respect their time and dignity; they tell friends about them too.
None of this requires a remodel, a consultant or a capital plan. It often looks like moving a display a few inches off the main path, ensuring one sink is set up for kids and adults of short stature, or angling a payment terminal so the screen is readable and the slot or tap point meets the customer’s hand.
An equitable — and profitable — path forward demands that retailers shift their thinking from mere compliance to actual customer benefits.
Accessibility is not a niche concern; it is a neighborly concern. It is what lets a grandparent enjoy a grocery run with a grandchild, helps a wheelchair user shop without strain and gives a parent one less lift at the end of a long day.
When we remove the small barriers that chip away at a simple errand, Atlanta keeps the Southern hospitality promise it has made for a long time.
Jacob Fedosky is president of Step ‘n Wash, an Atlanta-based business focused on creating accessible bathrooms for people of different needs and sizes.
