I'm not in the US but what makes you feel this is run down?

How is this mildly infuriating

If this is "run down" I wanna see what you would consider normal.

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.

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.

Ignorant American here: what looks "run down" about it?

Looks like a normal grocery store to me. If you want run down looking you should see what family dollar stores look like.

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.

WDYM run down? Bro that looks really good.

As a retail manager, it looks fine? If the people in front of you are all waiting to check out, they should probably grab people from other departments to cover a few extra registers for a bit, but the store itself looks nice to me.

Could probably be me being ignorant, but how does this look "run down" exactly? It looks like a Walmart, and them looking like this is not strictly a US thing. Walmarts look exactly like this in Mexico too, and from what ever little I seen of em, also look the same in Canada.

But to answer your question, no. Not all shops in the US look have the Walmart look.

DAE Murica sux? XDXDXD

Boy oh boy. Go to some of the save-a-lots in Cleveland OH. You’ll see the “run down” feeling. It’s just supposed to be the cheapest store to buy stuff, which makes sense they don’t go all out

This can’t be a walmart in america, where are the 50 american flags?

If you think this is run down, check out John Oliver's recent piece on "dollar stores" in the US

European here: looks perfectly normal to me.

Pretty much par for the course for a Walmart/any other store like it. Also they look exactly the same in Canada. Cruddy lighting, cheap beige laminate floors... Bleh.

Nah, usually some of the lights are out and there is mushy spots on the ceiling.

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.

Looks like a typical Walmart.

That is from the dystopian hellscape that is known as Walmart lol, not all shops look this way but it is an extra depressing take on big box stores.

In the US I don't really shop at a lot of these big name department/supermarket stores but I appreciate the deprioritization of superfluous building fashion.

But from what I understand, if you compare our hospitals to those abroad, the values are flipped on their head. We have granite marble waterfront facilities with grand fountains in the lobby and the patients and health care staff are treated like ass, we have poor outcomes that bankrupt us. But at least the place we shouldn't want to be in looks sharp.

You should see Walmart in Canada. Makes US Walmart look like a luxury store.

Dude, you're in a Walmart. You can't have peopleofwalmart.com AND have a polished ceiling. There's a reason their stuff is so cheap.

Yeah this is what they look like unfortunately. When it comes to size, decoration tends to suffer

When you shop at big box stores, the money leaves the community and goes to the wealthy 0.01%ers.

But the evil of their methods is that typically once they move in there's literally no other options left. Everything else either goes out of business or your wages drop so low you can't afford anything else.

These are a blight on American society.

These types of stores didn't used to be possible for various reasons. But removal of anti-trust regulations and a focus on car-centrism have enabled this hellish combo of monopolistic box stores that can pop up, kill the competition and leave a wasteland behind in which it is both financially and legally impossible for the local population to bring back local stores.

Local stores tend to be in the older town areas where dense-buildings were once legal, and are grandfathered in. These get bought up and flattened and replaced with a mcdonalds or a gas station while the walmartification is in full swing. Then once walmart implodes there because no one can afford it anymore, walmart closes and the other chains close as well. No one can afford to replace walmart or the gas stations at scale for the obnoxious amount of land they use, but they also can't replace them with more dense buildings because its literally illegal.

I think it's a size thing. At some point it just doesn't make sense to put in a lowered ceiling, because it costs a lot of money for no purpose and still looks like shit. Large stores in Europe also have visible airducts and supports etc.

Also, some malls have rules for what tenants are allowed to do with it, either for safety reasons (water sprinklers/fire alarms) or just because they don't want to repaint or remove whatever the tenant did with it before they went bankrupt.

What's wrong with it?

This is what every Meijer I've been to looks like. Yes, this is a Meijer, not Walmart.

Actually looks pretty clean to me. The ceiling having nothing but beams is pretty standard issue.

man getcho ass off ya high ass horse. ghoof aah

Yes, that's actually better than most.

If you think this is run down looking you should see shops in other countries

Walmart, Dollar General, and FoodMaxx usually are pretty fucked up.

Though, if you consider the image you posted to be "run down" then, holy shit. This image is one of the cleanest, least fucked up big box stores I've ever seen.

As a Texan, I'd be remiss if I didn't post about HEB:

Practically every store is different, they tailor them to the neighborhoods they're built in.

https://thcshoanghoatham-badinh.edu.vn/...

Should go into a Dollar General. They aren't all dumps, but a whole lot of them should be shut down by the local fire Marshal, since they got boxes and product right in the isles, turning the store into a labyrinth, and forcing customers to step over things.

Yes.

There are some retailers that put a lot of money into making the experience of shopping enjoyable and more pleasant (Nike, Lulu Lemon, Apple, etc.) and their storefronts thrive.

Walmart, the store you pictured, thrives because they sell cheap.

Yes it’s sweat pants casual and it looks better than what I wear there

I am honestly not noticing anything particularly bad myself. I could take picture of a local store in worse condition but its mostly due to the fact it's alpt older than all the other grocery establishments near by and I think the company has deemed it unnecessary to support as much.

It's literally a Walmart dawg

Our Walmart had the tile floor, and choose to remove it to expose the raw concrete during a remodel.

I travel all over for work, and often dive into Walmarts for quick replenishment of supplies, and they vary widely. Some are nicer, like this one (oh yeah, this is about as good as they get), but some are all beat up, with really messed up floors.

Depending on where you are, some have a lot of stuff locked up in lucite boxes.

But yeah, it's Walmart, they suck.