OnStar received more than 2 million calls last month for directions. Of that number, the service that once catered only to the upscale likes of Cadillac and better drivers directed nearly 40,000 users to discounter Walmart.
Not exactly the sole providence of the wealthy anymore.
The requests for Walmart directions easily outpaced all others, according to an OnStar press release. The second-most calls came in for directions to Holiday Inn, followed by The Home Depot, Walgreens, Marriott, Mickey D's, Bank of America, Starbucks, Target, and Hampton Inn -- not a Mansion on Turtle Creek or Hotel ZaZa in the bunch.
The 2 million calls fielded by OnStar representatives during July also reflected a record for most calls in a month, which probably tells us more people than usual took vacation within driving range of home. How's that for a little socioeconomic analysis?
Puzzling, though, why someone might need a Home Depot while on vacation and, geez, if there's not a Starburks right in front of you, just keep driving another two blocks in any direction, and you'll see one.
And don't people who've become regular shoppers at Walmart automatically know where the closest one is located even while out of town? I thought the checkout scanner had some sort of brainwashing technology built into it.
Bruce Felps owns and operates East Dallas Times, an online community news outlet serving the White Rock Lake area.
