Walmart Turns Down Lights And Changes Morning Hours For Sensory Disabled
David ShillerJanuary 11, 2024
During the Summer of 2023 back-to-school season, Walmart piloted sensory-friendly store hours, each Saturday from 8am-10am. During these hours, Walmart stores turned down the lights where possible, put a static image on the TV walls, and turned off the radio. Walmart received overwhelmingly positive responses.
As a result, Walmart has now designated 8am-10am every day to be sensory-friendly hours in all US and Puerto Rico stores, as of November 10th, 2023, with no planned end date. Walmart says the ideas came from customer feedback on how to make the stores feel like “they belonged.” The sensory disabled can include people on the autism spectrum, as well as others.
David Shiller is the Publisher of LightNOW, and Senior Business Development Consultant at Capacity Consulting, a North American consulting firm providing business development services to advanced lighting manufacturers. The ALA awarded David the Pillar of the Industry Award. David has been co-chair of the ALA’s Engineering Committee since 2010. David established MaxLite’s OEM component sales into a multi-million dollar division. He invented GU24 lamps while leading ENERGY STAR lighting programs for the US EPA. David has been published in leading lighting publications, including LD+A, enLIGHTenment Magazine, LEDs Magazine, and more.
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