Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site brl-sem.ARPA Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!mit-eddie!think!harvard!seismo!brl-tgr!brl-sem!ron From: ron@brl-sem.ARPA (Ron Natalie ) Newsgroups: net.consumers Subject: Re: Cashier wants zipcode? Message-ID: <603@brl-sem.ARPA> Date: Mon, 30-Dec-85 09:45:58 EST Article-I.D.: brl-sem.603 Posted: Mon Dec 30 09:45:58 1985 Date-Received: Wed, 1-Jan-86 00:42:47 EST References: <40@decwrl.UUCP> <70900052@trsvax> Organization: Ballistic Research Lab Lines: 29 > The Toys "R" Us around here (Ft. Worth) have been doing it to "determine if > there is a need for another store." I guess they look at the zip code and > decide how far this person has traveled. If they are all coming from an > area 10 miles away, perhaps they should open a store over there. Smells > like marketing types with yellow ties are behind it. I resemble that remark. I don't know why you grumble at marketing types doing simple dematographics like that. Collection of zip codes is trivial enough. It got even worse when the nearby MacDonald's wanted to expand, they asked me a dozen questions, where I live, where I had just come from, where I was going to with the food. Zip codes have two advantages, they're easy to collect, most people know what their zip code is, even though they will insist on using an incorrect or misleading city name. Their are people around here who don't even know what their street address is. They are just Rural Route 1, White Marsh, MD 21162. This causes some problems for the fire department, except for the fact that the phone company relays the address up on the ALI screens to the 911 operators. The phone companies computers always manage to get a street address (and a nine digit zip code, this is how I found out what mine was). The market research company I used to work for needed something for geographic districts back before their were zipcodes. The first two digits in their 5-digit code is the state number (states are numbered sequentially in alphabetical order, except that Alaska and Hawaii are 49 and 50, placing this is the proper time perspective) and followed by three digits of within state district. Problem was, that these had to be looked up by hand. -Ron