[nicbou]

Berlin had one of the largest pneumatic mail systems in the world. A (highly recommended) Berlin Unterwelten tour covers it. There is still a big, beautiful Rohrpost building in Mitte close to the big Synagogue.

The Real store at Leopoldplatz has a pneumatic tube system that reaches every cash register. You can see the tubes go up and along the ceiling. I believe that it's one of the failed Walmart stores from their disastrous attempts to conquer the German market.

[OfSanguineFire]

> The Real store at Leopoldplatz has a pneumatic tube system that reaches every cash register.

Isn’t this pretty common in hypermarkets? I’ve seen systems of pneumatic tubes running from the registers at Auchans or Carrefours in multiple European countries. I imagine that people don’t notice them just because pneumatic tubes are now so little a part of everyday life that one doesn’t even expect to see them.

[Cthulhu_]

I've seen them in DIY stores in the Netherlands as well, mainly used to send larger cash sums to the safe... safely.

Most stores will have a lockbox at cash registers where any cash amount over a certain amount is stored in. I'm not sure if these lockboxes have a plain lock or a time lock and are only moved to the safe after closing time though. But most stores also discourage the use of cash, because it puts them at risk of robberies and counterfeits.

Paying with cash is still attractive though, because cash is tax free. That is, no paper trail if you pay for a job by cash and the person doing it doesn't log anything. Very popular with tradespeople.

[DropInIn]

"Paying with cash is still attractive though, because cash is tax free. That is, no paper trail if you pay for a job by cash and the person doing it doesn't log anything. Very popular with tradespeople."

What an interesting way to frame criminality....

[TheSpiceIsLife]

I haven’t been paying much attention recently, and we tend to use bugger all cash here these days, and there are still companies servicing vacuum cash transfer systems here in Australia.

I recall seeing such systems in supermarkets and bottle shops, fairly certain the closest supermarket still has a system.

[morkalork]

Department stores in the past had this in Canada. Afaik they were used to send money from tills to the backoffice periodically after a certain level of cash in the drawer was reached.

[pests]

Hypermarkets?

[phs318u]

It’s a common European direct translation. In Greece they’re called υπεραγορά. Which translates directly to hypermarket.

And I’m pretty sure that ultra > hyper > super in the general case. I’ve yet to see an ultramarket though.

[the_third_wave]

> I’ve yet to see an ultramarket though.

Amazon (et al) using VR equipment comes to mind...

[grishka]

Also "гипермаркет" in Russian

[dredmorbius]

EU variant of the US "big box store", usually w/ integrated groceries / supermarket + department store.

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypermarket>

[resonantjacket5]

(Mainly usa context) Most of what people commonly call "us supermarkets" are also "hypermarkets". But basically it's combining not only department stores but also with grocery stores.

For example Target used to not include groceries until recently. For Walmart it's the difference between their 'regular' Walmart and the Walmart Supercenters. (Target also has their SuperTarget variant)

Most of Fred Meyer's are 'hypermarkets' including fuel, groceries and more.

Though, the trend isn't always to ever larger stores. There's Walmart Neighborhood Market and even say small Ikea stores nowadays.

[mohn]

> For example Target used to not include groceries until recently.

There was a span of time where many of them didn't, but I was surprised to learn recently that the first ever Target store included groceries. See this 1962-05-03 advertisement[0] for the grand opening.

[0] https://i.imgur.com/vayeLPV.jpg

[worklaptopacct]

As a Pole, I don't think I've heard the term "hypermarket" in like 10 years. There was a boom for all that exaggerated Western-style consumerism, but this kinda died down as medium-sized discount stores took over the majority of the market. Family trips to a shopping center might be a thing of the past - but also I'm not a kid anymore.

[brnt]

Depends a bit on where you are. In France it's definitely a thing if you live outside of the major cities. In the Netherlands, active government intervention stopped these car-only hypermarkets ("weidemarkten").

Gotta say though, Poland has both, but indeed has a full range from small Zabkas to Auchans at the edge of town (probably not a coincidence it's French brands operating the hypermarkets).

[OfSanguineFire]

Polish hypermarkets, at least in my experience, were never car-only. They were always within the city enough that one could easily use public transportation to shop there. What is car-only in Poland are wholesaler shops like Makro, which are often located well outside cities, but those are not meant for ordinary consumers.

[OfSanguineFire]

> As a Pole, I don't think I've heard the term "hypermarket" in like 10 years.

Carrefour Poland and Auchan Poland commonly use the term in to describe their own huge shops, like the one in Warsaw’s Arkadia shopping mall. Just do a Google search for the phrase “w naszym hipermarkecie”.

[sznio]

Yeah. 15 years ago going to Auchan, Carrefour, Tesco or Real was all the rage. Right now Tesco and Real are dead, and everyone just walks to the nearest Lidl/Aldi/Biedronka

I do miss it. Tesco Value Beer was great.

[golem14]

Costco in the bay area had those as well, as recently as 10-15 years ago.

[weinzierl]

The largest still in use system is allegedly in a hospital in Munich (Großhadern Clinic).

Also the largest German electronics store (think German version of Radio Shack) had such a system in their main store in Hirschau. I was endlessly fascinated about this as kid when the containers with my BC547s, 1N4001s and NE555s where popping out of the tubes.

[insaneirish]

New York City had it, too: https://untappedcities.com/2017/10/03/an-illustrated-history...

27 miles of tubes.

[rplnt]

Prague has/had over 50 km. Was used up until early 00s. Loads of it still exists, it's the last surviving municipal tube system, though not functional at the moment.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague_pneumatic_post

[jaclaz]

A page dedicated to these (city wide) pneumatic networks:

http://www.douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/COMMS/pneumess/pneumess.h...

[notyourwork]

Shucks, I was in Berlin last week, I wish I'd known this. Next time I'll try to take this tour!

[ant6n]

>> A (highly recommended) Berlin Unterwelten tour covers it.

This tour: https://www.berliner-unterwelten.de/en/guided-tours/public-t...

[testtestabcdef]

Interesting you mention this. I remember that the old Kaufland and Real where I usually went to, when I was still living at my mom's place, had them for a very long time.

But both stores have been rebuilt, so I guess they got rid of it.

[MiddleEndian]

I wish the postal system were replaced with a request-only series of pneumatic tubes. Then I would simply never request mail, and life would be slightly more convenient!

[tempsy]

Doesn't every Costco have this?

[pseudosavant]

I’ve seen it in most/all Costco’s I’ve been to.

[rx_tx]

The one I go to these days (US-CA) discontinued used of the tubes, but they're still present in the ceiling.

[lotsofpulp]

I have never seen it in a Costco in the US.

[tempsy]

I grew up going to Costco in the US and it was definitely a thing long ago.