While the design may not have been chosen for that purpose, it does indeed annoy me. And I suspect that it was designed that way more to force people to look at

While the design may not have been chosen for that purpose, it does indeed annoy me. And I suspect that it was designed that way more to force people to look at the goods in every single department, rather than to optimize the use of space. But yes, Hilbert curve rather than maze, makes sense.