If this is “run down” I wanna see what you would consider normal.
So in other words “yes” 😁. Honestly the floors look clean, stuff is on shelves, I have no idea what OP is complaining about.
I’m not in the US but what makes you feel this is run down?
The ceiling looks incomplete with no wall and the color scheme is drab and dreary.
You’re in a Walmart.
They claim to be cheaper so they can have that drabby distopian look.
In the good parts of town, they look nicer. In the poor parts of town they’re legit worse than that.
Fwiw, I’ll pay the extra dollar per shopping cart for the superior look of a target. Target is generally cleaner and crisper looking. As always there are exceptions to that rule.
That’s a Meijer
Target has been going downhill. Lots of crap in the aisles now, and inventory is stocked during the day. It’s like shopping in a warehouse.
Retail in general is hiring much less staff these days so they always look like shit. I heard on the radio that they are removing self checkout now too because of theft? I doubt they will increase staff back up to compensate. I kind of want to be there in rush hour the first time to watch the shit show.
The economics of removing self checkout are not there. You check 6 customers per attendant at self checkout - the store would need to lose $150,000 in merchandise at self check out per year to break even (assuming $30k/yr for the wage slave).
In a previous life, I did loss prevention. The average shrink rate in retail in the USA is 2%. That means 2% of the merchandise leaves the store without being paid for.
An average Walmart does millions in sales each day. Conservatively 2% of one million is $20,000.
Thousands of dollars of unpaid merchandise leaves a big retailer every single day. It’s part of the cost of doing business. That’s also why online retailers are cheaper. They don’t have to deal with external theft. They still have internal theft.
Shrink is the industry term. It’s merchandise that isn’t paid for and isn’t there when inventory happens. Theft is most of it, both by customers (external) and employees (internal). It’s also things that aren’t rang up right at the register, damaged merchandise that isn’t removed from the system correctly. It’s a big umbrella term.
For large chains in the suburbs this is totally normal. They’re basically warehouses in a sea of parking lots filled with shelves and racks. Sometimes there’s carpeted areas in between the tile walkways or displays that go up high enough that it feels enclosed. For smaller or more urban stores, you don’t see this kind of construction.
Looks like a normal grocery store to me. If you want run down looking you should see what family dollar stores look like.
Or a K-Mart. Any of them.
LOL, what K-Mart? They’re (rightfully) long gone, at least from around here.
How is this mildly infuriating
You had me zooming in looking for something. Like others have said, this is the “passing the savings along to you” look.
Target is a little more lively with an actual ceiling and brighter color scheme, but it’s really the same thing with a little extra polish.
This is a Giant Supermarket. Same overall feel as the Walmart, but slightly less warehouse like to make things look more appetizing.
Aldi has done a pretty good job of remodeling. It’s a value brand store where just about everything is store label, and it used to look rougher than Walmart. Now it’s become almost trendy and chic, but prices are still good. Makes the others really look like penny pinchers.
A large part of it is probably stores are so big making it nice would be “cost prohibitive” since they’d require more cleaning and maintenance.
Seriously though, what’s wrong with them? Have I been living in a dump and not realizing it?
I’m really questioning that myself. I’ve been to all the stores I posted and they’ve always been fine.
I just looked up a Tesco and a Carrefour from Europe and they look about the same as the US stores, so I’m wondering where OP lives where box stores are beautiful.
This is how most supermarkets (Walmart/Kroger/Target, etc.) in the U.S. look brand new - they’re effectively warehouses that sell product directly to customers. Smaller shops and boutiques have finished ceilings that hide the ductwork and such because they’re meant to be more flexible commercial/office space, but large stores like this do not, except for specialized locations like electronics, jewelery, or pharmacy, that can be gated off from the rest of the inside of the building for reduced operation and security.
The big box store chain esthetic. Ostensibly about passing value onto the customer (we put a roof over the products, what more do you want?) but probably more about maximizing shareholder value.
Ignorant American here: what looks “run down” about it?
Yeah this is what they look like unfortunately. When it comes to size, decoration tends to suffer
European here: looks perfectly normal to me.
Same, looks identical to what I’d see here in Australia.
This can’t be a walmart in america, where are the 50 american flags?
Ever been to a dollar store?
The reason is that they often need to have just 1-2 employees to cut costs and stay competitive.Are those stains or shadows?
Yes
