Store

A convenience Store
A convenience store, corner store, corner shop, commonly called a bodega in Spanish-speaking areas of the United States,[1] is a small store or shop in a built up area that stocks a range of everyday items such as groceries, toiletries, alcoholic and soft drinks, and may also offer money order and wire transfer services. They differ from general stores and village shops in that they are not in a rural location, and are used as a convenient supplement to the main shopping rather than being the main store.

A convenience store may form part of gas/petrol stations. They may be located alongside busy roads, in urban areas, or near railway stations or other transportation hubs. In some countries convenience stores have long shopping hours, some being open 24 hours.

Convenience stores are usually more expensive than regular supermarkets as it's their source of added value.

Types

Various types exist, for example: liquor stores (off-licences–offies), mini-markets (mini-marts) or party stores. Typically junk food (sweets, ice-cream, soft drinks), lottery tickets, newspapers and magazines are sold. Unless the outlet is a liquor store, the range of alcohol beverages is likely to be limited (i.e. beer and wine) or non-existent. Most stores carry cigarettes and other tobacco products. Varying degrees of food and grocery supplies are usually available, from household products, to prepackaged foods like sandwiches and frozen burritos. Automobile-related items such as motor oil, maps and car kits may be sold. Often toiletries and other hygiene products are stocked, as well as feminine hygiene and contraception. Some of these stores also offer money orders and wire transfer services. Convenience stores that are near fishing destinations may carry live bait, such as nightcrawlers or crickets.

The most common type of foods offered in convenience stores are breakfast sandwiches and other breakfast food. Throughout Europe convenience stores now sell fresh French bread (or similar). A process of freezing parbaked bread allows easy shipment (often from France) and baking in-store.[citation needed] Some stores have a delicatessen counter, offering custom-made sandwiches and baguettes. Others have racks offering fresh delivered or baked doughnuts from local doughnut shops. Some stores have a self-service microwave oven for heating purchased food.

Differences from supermarkets

Although larger, newer convenience stores have quite a broad range of items, the selection is still limited compared to supermarkets, and in many stores only 1 or 2 choices are available. Prices in a convenience store are typically higher than at a supermarket, mass merchandise store, or auto supply store (with the exception of the goods such as milk and fuel in which convenience stores traditionally do high volume and sometimes use as loss leaders[citation needed]).

The average U.S. convenience store has a sales area of 2,768 square feet (257.2 m2). New stores average about 2,800 square feet (260 m2) of sales area and about 1,900 square feet (180 m2) of non-sales area — a nod to retailers recognizing the importance of creating destinations within the store that require additional space — whether coffee islands, foodservice areas with seating or financial services kiosks. Convenience stores also have expanded their offerings over the last few years, with stores become part supermarket, restaurant, gas station and even a bank or drug store.

Convenience stores sell approximately 80 percent of the fuels purchased in the United States.[4] In the US, the stores are sometimes the only stores and services near an interstate highway exit where drivers can buy any kind of food or drink for miles. Most of the profit margin from these stores comes from beer, liquor, and cigarettes.[citation needed] Although those three categories themselves usually yield lower margins per item, the sales volume in these categories generally makes up for it.[citation needed] Profits per item are much higher on deli items (bags of ice, chicken, etc.), but sales are generally lower. In some countries most convenience stores have longer shopping hours, some being open 24 hours.

A GENERAL STORE
A general store, general merchandise store, or village shop (UK) is a rural or small town store that carries a general line of merchandise.[1] It carries a broad selection of merchandise, sometimes in a small space, where people from the town and surrounding rural areas come to purchase all their general goods. The store carries routine stock and obtains special orders from warehouses. It differs from a convenience store or corner shop in that it will be the main shop for the community rather than a convenient supplement.

Bodeguita comes from the Spanish language as a diminutive of bodega which means "small store" or "small warehouse". Traditionally, Bodeguita existed selling general merchandise, then they were replaced slowly by the chain store, the same way large US chains have practically eliminated the "mom and pop" store.

General stores often sell staple food items such as milk and bread, and various household goods such as hardware and electrical supplies. The concept of the general store is very old, and although some still exist, there are far fewer than there once were, due to urbanization, urban sprawl, and the relatively recent phenomenon of big-box stores.

The term "general merchandise store" is also used to describe a hybrid of a department store, with a wide selection of goods, and a discount store, with low prices. Examples include J. C. Penney, Sears, and sometimes Kohl's.

United Kingdom

Village shops have become increasingly rare in the densely populated parts of England, although they remain common in remote rural areas of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland along with some lesser populated areas of England such as North Yorkshire, Northumberland and The Lake District.

Their rarity in England is due to several factors, such as the rise in car ownership, competition from large chain supermarkets, the rising cost of village properties, and the increasing trend of the wealthy to own holiday homes in picturesque villages, consequently houses which used to be occupied full-time are often vacant for long periods.

Of those villages in England who still have shops, these days they are often a combination of services under one roof to increase the likelihood of profit and survival. Extra services may include a post office, private business services such as tearooms, cafes, and bed and breakfast accommodation; or state services such as libraries and General Practitioner (GP) or Dental clinics; and charity partners such as Women's Institute (WI) coffee mornings held on the day most elderly villagers might collect their weekly pensions.

Some villages now no longer have either shop or post office, but the village pub has largely survived (although recent economic downturns and changed drinking laws have begun to impact upon and change the survival of even this village stalwart[original research?]) and these often function as small shops or post offices as well. Many village pubs have become notable dining experiences, attracting trade from their villagers, tourists and nearby town dwellers with their trendy chefs or local produce/organic menus. In village areas close to Towns and Cities with a modern, mixed ethnic picture, out of town dining experiences of an ethnic kind have become popular in former pub premises. Most notable are large Indian and Chinese restaurants in areas such as Leicestershire, in the English East Midlands.

Community shops have become popular in some villages, often jointly owned and run by many villagers as a co-operative. The Village Retail Services Association ([1]) promotes the role and function of the village shop in the UK. Many modern village shops choose to stock items which draw in customers from neighbouring areas who are seeking locally sourced, organic and specialist produce such as local cuts of meat, local cheeses, wines etc.

In towns and cities, the corner shop has largely survived by dominating the local and light night convenience market.

The 1970s saw the death of the traditional grocery shop, which would have once dominated in the kind of buildings most corner shops operate from today, such old traditional family grocery stores began to face competition on two fronts: on the one hand from immigrant-owned corner shops, trading longer hours (typically British Asian families), and on the other from the rise of the supermarket, which amalgamated many specialist retailers such as butchers, bakers, and grocers under one roof at increasingly cheaper prices and with room for a greater choice of products. With the gradual loss of the traditional grocers came the loss of many aspects of old British shopping culture such as grocery deliveries and being enabled to have a "Tic" account with the grocer, a form of unofficial advanced credit. The cornershop is now much more the local convenience shop than the family grocer of days gone by.

Cornershops are usually so called because they are located on the corner plot or street end of a row of terraced housing, often Victorian or Edwardian factory workers' houses. The doorway into the shop was usually on the corner of the plot to maximise shop floor space within, this also offered two display windows onto two opposing streets. Many have now altered the original shop front layout in favour of a mini-supermarket style. Although it is common that cornershops found in the UK were former grocer shops, other specialist retailers also occupied such slots and have suffered the same fate of being largely replaced by super and hypermarkets, such retailers as greengrocers, bakers, butchers and fishmongers.


DEPARTMENT STORE

A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories. Department stores usually sell products including apparel, furniture, home appliances, electronics, and additionally select other lines of products such as paint, hardware, toiletries, cosmetics, photographic equipment, jewellery, toys, and sporting goods. Certain department stores are further classified as discount stores. Discount department stores commonly have central customer checkout areas, generally in the front area of the store. Department stores are usually part of a retail chain of many stores situated around a country or several countries.

Denmark

In Denmark you find three department store chains: Magasin (1868), Illum (1891), Salling (1906). Magasin is by far the largest with 6 stores all over the country, with the flagship store being Magasin du Nord on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. Illums only store on Amagertorv in Copenhagen has the appearance of a department store with 20% run by Magasin, but has individual shop owners making it a shopping centre. But in peoples mind it remains a department store. Salling has two stores in Jutland with one of these being the reason for the closure of a magasin store due to the competition.


7- ELEVEN

7-Eleven began the trend of convenience stores in Singapore when it opened its first store in 1982 by Jardine Matheson Group, under a franchise agreement with Southland Corporation of the United States.[13] Dairy Farm International Holdings acquired the chain from Jardine Matheson Group in 1989.[14]

The number of 7-Eleven outlets continued to increase in 1984 while other chains were having difficulty in expanding. One Plus was unable to expand due to the shortage of good sites. The original owners of the Myshop franchise, which had seven outlets, sold out to one of its suppliers due to a lack of demand.[13]

However, in 1985, 7-Eleven faced difficulty in finding favourable locations and failed to meet its one-store-a-month target. The situation improved in 1986 with a new Housing Development Board (HDB) tendering system, which allowed 7-Eleven to secure shops without having to bid too high a price.[15] 7-Eleven stores are open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, including Sundays and public holidays.[16] This 24/7 policy was seen as the reason that gave 7-Eleven its edge over its competitors.

In 1990, there was a rise in the number of shop thefts in 7-Eleven. The shoplifters were usually teenagers who stole small items such as chocolates, cigarettes and beer.[17] In response to the increase in the number of thefts, 7-Eleven stepped up security measures, which successfully lowered the crime rate by 60%