A
term used to describe a type of
store that attempts to
dominate a particular retail
category, like
home improvement,
office supplies,
pet goods,
sporting goods, etc. I think the "
killer" part comes from the fact that when one of these comes to town, they tend to kill the smaller
mom-and-pop retail stores.
They are usually warehouse style, with large shelves of stuff, all their merchandise on display in big boxes, plain concrete floors, harsh mercury lights, and tons of zombie-like staff roaming around, doing everything but helping you. These places could not exist without bar code scanners.