All major retailers - that includes Target, Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, Costco, Kroger, BestBuy - will accept $100 bills. They might occasionally get annoyed at needing to request change, to break the $100, from a floor manager. The parent comment is wrong on that point.
One of the reasons places like that can accept these bills is they aggressively pursue counterfeiters and have the budget to do so. Like having a security team. They don’t just “take the L” if they get a counterfeit bill.
When I was security at Target the most exciting thing I did was work with the Secret Service (who are also responsible for catching counterfeiters) who would come from their downtown office and pick up the counterfeit bills we’d sometimes receive. Oddly enough for awhile we were getting counterfeit $5 bills. We wouldn’t catch those until we put it into the money counting/scanning machine at night in the safe room, though.
I didn't say "most" I said "many" The only one of the places you listed that I visit regularly is CVS. Branch out from the large chains and see "No $100 bills accepted" or "No bills larger than $20 accepted" signs.
