A store in northern England will fall completely silent starting at 8 a.m. every Saturday morning in a bid to help its customers with autism and other disabilities.
For one hour starting on May 7, the escalators of the Asda Living outlet in Cheetham Hill, Manchester, will be halted.
The in-house music system and display televisions will be turned off, and announcements suspended. All clutter will also be removed from the aisles.
Store manager Simon Lea is introducing the weekly "quiet hour" to help customers who find the usually noisy environment to be stressful.
He hopes the peaceful atmosphere at the Walmart-owned general merchandise outlet will help them enjoy, rather than endure, the experience of shopping. And he will also hand out picture-based maps of the store so that clients can easily find exactly what they want to buy.
"When we open the doors, you will be able to hear a pin drop. That's the plan," the father of two told the Manchester Evening News. "We have a lot of disabled customers and we want to make the shop better for them."
Staff at the branch will arrive at work one hour early to help set up, reports ITV News.
Lea, 39, was inspired to introduce the so-called "quiet hour" after recently witnessing a young boy with autism struggling to cope with being inside the noisy store.
After speaking to an employee who has a child with autism, he began canvassing his customers with disabilities to see how he could make a difference to them.
"It's all about helping people really. Six months ago I would have said 'control your child' even though I’ve got children," Lea told the Manchester Evening News. "But speaking to people with autism and disabled people has helped me think about how I can make it a better place to shop."
