Heh. It's a longreads.com article, which should be a hint.

Basically it's about marketing firms trying to convince supermarket owners that inefficient layout and cute themes will save the day. All sorts of stuff is to be feared: millennials who prefer restaurants or Amazon (and won't age out of it by starting families), the giant Walmart monster, etc.

So make the customers zig-zag around a store, kind of like shopping at JCPenny or Macy's, or maybe even a casino. Take up space with weird stuff, like corrugated steel around the milk to evoke farm nostalgia. Create a mock up of an urban deli, complete with an awning that is hopefully useless under the supermarket's roof.

Evidently people like me are undesirable customers, because I hate all that stuff.