One data point: I have to shop there sometimes and it is the opposite of well-liked. It's a last resort. The employees are miserable, the shelves are disorganized (trash, items in wrong places, just a mess), and the customers are impatient and angry. They do have self-checkout at least now which helps a bit with my biggest complaint (the checkout lines taking forever), but definitely not a place I'd call "well liked". My above criticisms apply uniformly to the 3 Walmarts in my area.
Walmart in upscale areas tends (in my unscientific observation, n = approx 10) to be full of people who are working there and shopping there as a last resort and it shows.
I'm in the immediate city suburbs wherein there are some middle to upper-middle class areas with lower income areas right next to them. Interesting thought, but it doesn't play out at least in "my" Walmarts. The Walmart in the lowest income area is the worst in my case. Aisles where there's no order whatsoever and things like a full unopened jug of milk sitting on the shelf (that's warm) like someone just changed their mind, but no employee ever noticed. Perhaps there's something to be made of the fact that this low income area is right next to higher income areas (creates resentment maybe(?)...just spitballing here).
My even more unscientific observation (n = 2) - I live near two Walmarts, one of which is in a more upscale area than the other. The one in the upscale area is the better Walmart in terms of cleanliness, keeping things in stock, etc.
