Something similar to this opened up near my house last October. It had a sign in the window identifying itself as “The Holiday Store” and it had nothing but Halloween decorations. A few days after Halloween it closed, with a sign posted that said “Open in three weeks,” and just before Thanksgiving it opened again, selling (obviously) Thanksgiving decorations, and then after Thanksgiving the merchandise changed to Christmas decorations. For the last three months it’s been closed, with the windows covered in brown paper but the sign still visible. I’ve been waiting to see if it opens for Easter, but so far there’s been no sign of it. I remember thinking after Christmas how they can afford to rent a storefront for a whole year but only be open for a few months of that time.
I suspect that a Halloween shop in the Los Angeles area might get some business all year 'round, from the movie business. Well, maybe not. It depends on how cheap the costumes were.
Re the scrapbooking stores…
Scrapbooking is currently the fastest growing and most popular hobby in the US, and probably Canada. We just went over this at work because Michaels is opening a line of scrapbooking stores soon. But don’t ask me how big it is, because I’m dreadful at numbers. (I’m a programmer, that’s the computer’s job 
) And you don’t have to be a scrapbooker to check out the store - the hobby has brought a lot of really cool toys for the crafter. Stamps, stickers, pretty paper, scissors and hole punches that cut paper in unusual designs, etc. Also, the hobby has spun off new hobbies such as card-making.
Another factor in these little stores is that they carry a much wider array of merchandise than a more generalized store can. There are battery stores all over that only carry batteries, and I feel much more confident of being able to get a replacement battery for my cordless phone.
Now, I have seen several restaurants that I just can’t conceive of how they survive!
Penzey’s fanatic speaking up! I LOVE Penzey’s. I’m not a gourmet cook (not even close), but I will use Penzey’s spices over any other kind when I can. I stock up whenever I visit Milwaukee. To me, Penzey’s spices are just better than what I get at the grocery store. Fresher, more fragrant, etc. Also, they have some wonderful spice mixtures that you can’t get anywhere else. They’ve been written up in lots of magazines (Gourmet and that ilk) as well.
Cricket
Lots of people have limbs amputated due to diabetes (same with eye problems). I could see a place that specializes in getting all those little blood vessels working again…they’re probably really busy (and just do consultations there at the mall).
Actually I live about a block away from one of those. Their food isn’t that bad, and you wouldn’t be able to tell if anyone had takeout specifically from there because they use plain brown paper bags, and nondescript cups that could be from any little fast food place. I usually get the mushroom burger, and tater tots. Very yummy.
Though I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the people at the nearby one sell weed out the backdoor, but considering the neighborhood I live in you can spit and hit someone who sells it. Not that I would recommend spitting at anyone…
yosemite- “Fake Leg Doctors” are actually called Prosthetists.
A little off topic, but in Arlington, Mass (I think) is a store whose sign reads “Catholic Store”.
I thought I should stop in and buy a new Catholic, since mine is lapsed…
Actors at all levels: grade school plays, junior high school plays, high school plays, college plays, community theater plays, dinner theater.
There’s a lot of acting going on out there with little fanfare.
For a couple of years, I did summer theater in the parks, sponsored by the city. Most of our costuming came from costume shops.
They don’t, and aren’t meant to. People who entertain the CS version of the religion mind virus support their ‘church’, and the church supports the reading rooms. The idea is that they are making the words of Mary Baker Eddy and the Bible freely available to all who want to read them.
I had a long relationship with a Christian Scientist once. If you like faintly freaky, problematic experiences, try it. Fall in love with someone who is wonderful, lovely, great to be with… and absolutely certain there is no such thing as illness or disease (not in the way the rest of think there is, anyways). Things get tricky as soon as either of you falls “ill”.
There’s a light bulb store on Scottsdale Rd, North of McDowell in Old Town Scottsdale. My husband would buy flourescent lights there for his old job. I always wondered how they stayed in business.
Now we live in Dallas, and I haven’t seen any weird stores yet - but I’m keeping my eyes open!
Yes, of course. But my sister actually prefers the term “peg leg doctor”. (She’s rather irreverant about her condition!) Oh, how many times have I driven her to her “Peg Leg Appointment”! 
So this thread’s back, huh? The mystery drug store is still up and running, and I’m still convinced that it’s a front for the distibution of illegal substances. It’s the only explanation for how this guy can pay the rent.
There used to be a store in my town called “Babylon Gifts” which sold a (very) few t-shirts (just some hangers tossed onto one rack), several assorted types of incense, bumperstickers and pipes 'for use smoking tobacco only." I’m so sure.
Ok, I got a real one rather than just a shady business anecdote.
When I was in Jr. High a Dairy Queen opened up on Folsom Blvd. I was hyped… a DQ! Great!
6 months later, it closed. The owners son (the manager) got a gun stuck in his face, so he gave it up. It sat dormant for several years.
About 2 years ago it got remodeled (which took a LONG time) and re-opened as “Avacado Grill”. 8 months later, close and reopened as “Guacamole Grill”. Then close, and reopen again with no sign, just mexican dishes advertised in the window.
Now its re-re-reopening as “Senor Burrito’s”. It’s almost funny.
My sister lives near a place in Milwaukee called Ma B-something-or-other Herring. It’s supposedly a herring packing plant. In Milwaukee. Not anywhere near a body of salt water. There’s hardly ever more than one car parked in the lot, and when there’s more than one, they’re always large black sedans with tinted windows. It’s either undercover cops or the mafia. It’d be cool if it was the mafia, because then I could sit and draw worst case scenarios out of my butt and see how long it takes before my sister falls out of her chair laughing. Hmm. I know what’s happening at Easter. I’ve always wondered how Florsheim’s Shoes stays open, considering I’ve never seen anyone in it; customer or clerk, and it always seems to be open.
Sarah
Hopefully mishaa can back me up on this one, but here in the DFW metroplex I see more freaking DONUT SHOPS than I can shake an angry stick at. I’ve seen THREE donut shops at a big 4-way intersection.
Do people really buy this many donuts? How in the world can you pay rent when you sell fried dough and compete with two other shops within 100 yards?
What a coincidence. I drove past a place today that had signs out the front saying “Scrapbooks” and “Lessons available” and wondered what the hell they meant.
Pet groomers can do okay if they have a catchy name. A friend of mine uses a service called “Doggy Style”.
Near where I work are a map and atlas shop and a futon shop. Both have run the same specialities for at least 15 years.
Slow learners…
In a little, gradually failing mall near my old office, there was a discount shoe store that never seemed to have any customers. After about 4 months, they had a “going out of business” sale, the store was emptied of all stock and fixtures, and the windows were papered over. Two months later, we were treated to the grand opening of, guess what, a discount shoe store! What do you think happened after about 4 months?
I recently heard an ad on the radio for a battery store. Apparently, you can get every kind of battery ever made there. Gosh, I can’t wait to go!