system
A chat on subreddit /r/NoStupidQuestions
human
&gt;Have you ever seen apartments with stores beneath?

It's extremely common around the world. 

&gt;Do people in the apartments have to go inside the store to go home? When they come downstairs, are they in the middle of a clothing rack?

No. There is typically on door that is for the apartments on the outside. No one would agree to live in a place where access to their home is limited by store hours and no store would accept random residents having access to their merchandise after hours.

&gt;I never see any stairs or elevators or apartment entrance labels. Are people teleporting inside?

There's a door. It leads to an elevator and/or stairs. 

&gt;Are the apartments not really apartments and are storage or office / business rooms?

Typically not. 

&gt;Can the people in the apartments hear the noise in the stores?

Yes. Most people can hear their neighbors. Typically subsides after the first residential level. 

&gt;Do they get residential discounts at the stores underneath their housing block?

No.

&gt;And for anyone with personal experience living with or building this style of housing, what do you think about it?

It's just normal housing in a dense urban area.
gpt
I greatly appreciate your thorough response! Thank you for your time.