I find the hexagon version slightly more visually pleasing since it breaks up the straight lines—see the link for comparison. But either way, both are a huge improvement over the surface-based shapes when conveying data that is totally unrelated to the geographical surface of states.

http://blog.apps.npr.org/2015/05/11/hex-tile-maps.html

The general idea of using lots of small visualizations broken up across some dimension like that is called "small multiples".

I agree, the geographic arrangement is a really nice innovation on the idea.

The repeated charts all the same size makes it a "small multiple" [1]. Laying them out in a meaningful spatial way is a brilliant idea. I don't know if there's a name for that.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_multiple

It’s a sparkline[1] presented in “small multiples”[2].

[1]https://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=...

[2]https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&source=hp&ei=F0IDWp75...

I felt like this chart shows that retail store closures are a lagging indicator for employment. Stores are up in NY, WA, TX -- all states where people migrate to to work in tech companies. (Not sure about ND and UT, though.)

The charts are over a decade, wouldn’t be surprising if North Dakota could be explained by the oil boom that happened there. No idea about Utah...

Utah has experienced a tech boom as well. They have multiple unicorns. Qualtrics, Domo, pluralsight, as well as a large presence from Adobe, Microsoft, and eBay among others.

ND has/had the oil boom (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Dakota_oil_boom). You can see it clearly on the map(s) under "Retail Landscape" (the percentage change maps).

Chorogrid [1] seems appropriate.

[1] https://github.com/Prooffreader/chorogrid

Are we seeing different charts? Mine is sorted by the percent change (over 2007 to 2017), not geography. Has Rhode Island at the top left, Alaska on middle-right, etc.

It's using a responsive layout. It shows them sorted like that if your browser's width is below a certain size, and the map-style arrangement if it's wider.

The graph is wonderful and makes me tune out most of the rest of the article, because the picture in the graph is the same picture you see everywhere: certain areas are booming (the south, Texas, the coastal parts of the west coast), others are slowly declining.

What's unique to retail about that graph?

The chart itself is called a sparkline.[1] Neat use to organize many of them into the shape of the US

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparkline

it looks like 'the periodic table of US retail jobs growth'

I agree, that graphic is splendid.

But what's going on with Washington State?