Walmart is known for its mammoth superstores that sell everything from groceries to treadmills. For thousands of RV travelers, though, its stores are appealing for a different reason: Spacious parking lots where people can relax and stay overnight for free.
The company has allowed overnight parking for RVers in many of its 4,700 U.S. lots going back to the days of founder Sam Walton in the mid-twentieth century. Even RV enthusiasts Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife, conservative activist Ginni Thomas, have been known to stay at Walmart parking lots.
But parking at Walmart is getting harder to find. In 2010, about 78 percent of Walmart stores allowed overnight RV parking. Now, it’s close to 58 percent, according to Jim O’Briant, who runs OvernightRVParking.com, a website that tracks more than 14,000 free RV parking locations in the United States and Canada.
This presents a problem for scores of self-proclaimed nomads just looking for a place to settle after dark. “RVers looking for a place to park overnight for one night will need to find other places,” O’Briant said.
Click here to see the full story from Nathaniel Meyersohn at CNN.com.
A Walmart representative said the company does not track how many stores allow overnight RV parking or whether the number has gone down in the past few years. RV parking policies are subject to store manager discretion.
