Shoppe Senses Tingling

 I have a quite unusual set of skills, just not in the Liam Neeson action-movie way.  None of them are spectacular or flashy, really, but they do have their uses.  For instance, I have an uncanny "shop-sense."  Put me into a store or mall of some kind, and I can usually find exactly what I want or where it is supposed to be located if it's not there.  It's amazing at what I can find.  Getting the right size, or finding a sale or clearance item, frequently happens to me.  (This sense used to extend to libraries and school campuses, but it has been so long since I've been to new ones, I'm not sure if that skill hasn't waned or not over time.) It doesn't matter if it is a store I've been to dozens of times, a different location for a chain, or a brand new place, I can orient myself to its layout and adjust as necessary.  Note, I said 'usually.'  Recently, the local Walmart has started a major remodel.  Even though I go there at least once a week, recent trips have left me in a daze with all of the drastic changes taking place, even in sections that I rarely go into. I have even wound up barely getting anything, but that might be more due to supply issues than anything else, but I digress.  For instance, the toy department was moved to where the gardening center used to be.  I'm guessing most of those products were taken outside or just not replaced for the moment.  Books and magazines were taken from the front to where the toys were, with about a thirty percent reduction in the former and another forty percent or so reduction in the latter.  This might be a temporary reduction until the changes are completed, but, if not, then that means that magazines have gone down to about a quarter of what they were just two years ago.  School and office supplies have also been moved to fill this section, as well as crafts/fabric.  For a few weeks anyway.  Crafts were moved back to almost exactly where they once were, for no reason.  Now, it looks like home improvement will be moving to the back.  Home furnishings filled in the gap where school supplies were, along with some movement of clothing.  Shoes were slightly shoved around as baby care went to where the Subway restaurant once was.  Paper goods now occupy where baby care was.  Pet food, with other pet supplies, took over paper goods' spot.  Health and beauty expanded to where pet supplies were, but not without a sizable reordering of products, so that the aisles have different products together.  Just last week, the seasonal aisles were placed with housewares, for what go better together than small home appliances and Halloween costumes and candy.  Clothing was currently moved into where seasonal was, and it looked liked cards/party supplies were the next to be moved.  Have I mentioned how checkout has changed?  The previous multiple self-checkout lanes have been rearranged into one single location.  Too bad not all of the registers had been connected as of my last visit.  Some of the regular lanes are still being fixed into a meaningful configuration.  Until finalized, paper numbers cover where the original plastic one denoted which was which.  Large gaps still float in the front, but last least that allowed me to see where the collectables aisle had been moved to.  Similar empty spots turn up elsewhere among the departments, just waiting for the latest changes, as well as the changing of the tile.  I'm almost scared of what will happen when the changes start in the grocery aisles.  Already, small changes were made to produce and bakery.  In fact, they were among the first changes I noticed.  That and how the deli doesn't seem to have product displayed, at least at the times I'm there.  For whatever the reason, my store senses reel whenever I go there lately.  I can't seem to keep up with the week-to-week alterations.  I've been in other stores, both during and after major renovations, but I've never felt this confused before.  The changes have been random and chaotic.  Even just passing by the moved sections leave me befuddled.  It shouldn't, but it does.  I recently went to a supermarket that I hadn't been to in over a year.  They had a near complete makeover, but I was able to navigate the aisles with few problems.  But my local Walmart.  It just leaved me wishing that the remodel would finish.  And soon.