What took the place of former big-box stores?

[Jardine]

I find the mirror image Menards to be particularly annoying.  My preference is as you face the entrance to have electrical to the left.  My area has both layouts and it is very disconcerting to be in a backwards store.

Had an uncle live in an apartment building with LH and RH versions.  Some time after he went to the nursing home an acquaintance of mine wound up in Unc's old complex, in a mirror image unit.  Even with the elapsed time, I found the layout really a problem.

[Laura]

Kmart (W) -> Burlington Coat Factory, Madison, WI

The beginning of the end of that shopping center.

good point on store layouts being nearly identical all over.

This may depend on the chain.  I can walk into three different Price Chopper's in Vermont (Berlin, Morrisville, St. J) and see three VERY different layouts.

My father used to work retail for a few different chains (local and national), and he said that having the layouts different is intentional - it causes the shopper to find other things they want in the process of finding the things they need.

[formulanone]

The building about a mile north, on the back side of Oakland Mall that was the previous location for Circuit City is now a showroom for classic cars.

Circuit City boxes never seem to stay vacant for long. Whichever architectural firm created the design deserves a gold star...although I suppose in the spirit of the thread, it's just a protruding box on top.

[Pete from Boston]

The building about a mile north, on the back side of Oakland Mall that was the previous location for Circuit City is now a showroom for classic cars.

Circuit City boxes never seem to stay vacant for long. Whichever architectural firm created the design deserves a gold star...although I suppose in the spirit of the thread, it's just a protruding box on top.

There's a still-empty one in Somerville, MA.  Wal-Mart was going to open one of their small market concept stores in the space, but locals decided Wal-Mart is for communities content to cater to poor people and said no.

[Thing 342]

Both Circuit Cities near me got turned into HHGreggs. 
CompUSA turned into a Fresh Market, of all things.
The mall near me had Borders as an anchor, which became a succession of stores upon Borders' bankruptcy (including a toy store, an art gallery, and a Halloween store), before coming a massive Forever 21.
Both K-Marts near me are closing, with one to become a Harris Teeter (I think), and another to become a relocated Kroger.
An old Linens N' Things near me is still vacant.