BatteryMill wrote: ↑September 22nd, 2020, 2:33 pm
Publix has used terrazzo flooring since their "Dream Store" opened in 1940- it was one of Mr. George's key tenets of design, and it's remained since. As for the striped floors - I thought they were gray actually, but that may stem from 70s/early 80s instances. It's definitely nice to see Publix continue to include these floors within their stores, anyhow.
Walmart does have an interesting history with such floors. Their brown concrete floors were actually introduced in 2004 and used alongside Impact's predecessors. It fit well then at least, seeing as how stores had primarily beige walls at the time and less radical redesigns like Impact and the rest. Speaking of which- I do like seeing concrete with skylights. Wegmans and Kroger are good examples of such.
As for most of these linoleum-to-concrete conversions, you can often see the previous tile grout extant within the flooring. Not the worst thing, but it just looks awkward compared to new or well-refined installations.
Wood floors are alright, but in moderation. I can't imagine carts rolling through a full store of them.
The terrazzo I remember from Publix stores like the one here that was built in '62 up through the late '80s ones was white (that had gray specs) with green stripes. Some may have been more of a gray, but the ones I remember were emerald green with a hint of gray. During the late '90s when the one here got expanded and remodeled they covered the terrazzo with white and gray linoleum tiles. Over time you could see the lines from the terrazzo. Not sure when they changed from the original striped style but the replacement store was built in 2016 and has all tannish colored terrazzo with no stripes.
Didn't realize the brown Walmart floors went with an earlier decor package. What I have noticed with stores that originally had tiles but then had them removed for concrete is the shopping cart doesn't feel as smooth on them as it did in a store built with them. Sort of how a car handles when driving on a nice black, newly paved road vs one that's worn for a while.
I don't believe I've seen any stores that have wood flooring throughout the entire store, except for small places like GNC's new store here. The Winn Dixie stores that use/have used wood flooring tended to have it only in the produce department in the earlier late 2008-2009 remodels, with linoleum tile through the rest of the store. The transformational stores expanded the wood into the bakery and deli departments and I think the wine department, with the rest of the store having concrete. I think the stores getting redone with it now use it just in the produce section again but I could be wrong.
And of course Walmart uses wood in their clothing departments only from what I've seen. The newer wood floors they're using in their stores when they do concrete have more of a grippy feel while the older wood look floors were glossy just like the tiles. I saw them putting them down one night and they appear to come in strips that stick on.