I think a lot of that has to do with the environment that management creates. I worked with a lot of different people in my time there and under the first two assistant store managers, we had amazing people at the wall (how we referred to our department because of the "fish wall"). However, under the third assistant manager all hell broke loose and we continuously brought in people who, with the exception of a few of my favorites, were only there for money and stood by the old "it's just a fish" and "the customer is always right" sayings. I'd say I'm more like 1 in 10, but the environment that is necessary to create customer service employees like me is much more rare.
I just get irritated with blanket statements about big boxes vs mom and pops. I have seen some truly horrendous mom and pops in my time that would make me want to never set foot in one again, if I used a blanket statement to judge them.