# Return of the Most Specialized Store **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 29, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257 "2010-03-29T21:29:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/1 "2010-03-29T21:29:52Z")
In August, 2005, I started – [Most specialized store you know of](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=328269) – and it got 84 Replies and 1,865 Views in the course of a few days. Here’s what I said in the OP back then: > [@](#): > > An old SNL sketch was built around the Scotch Tape Boutique in an upscale mall that offered nothing but that product in its various presentations. Aside from the curious fact that many many items would need to be sold to afford the rent on the store itself, it was hard to imagine anybody making a trip to a mall for the sole purpose of buying Scotch tape when they could easily find some at the supermarket on the next corner. > > Batteries Plus is an example of a highly specialized place, but I can imagine it gets decent traffic for those really odd sized and odd voltaged batteries that most supermarkets and superdrugs wouldn’t want to carry. > > Is there some stand-alone store or mall boutique that you find excessively specialized? Do they seem to be turning a profit? Have they been there long? > > Also, is there a store or shop with a really redundant name? We ran across The Boutique Shop in Boaz, Alabama, and laughed most of the way home. Even now it’s one we’ll use to describe some pretentious place of business. There must be many such places to have cranked up for some length of time in the intervening four and a half years. Tell us about your favorite(s). ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/2 "2010-03-29T21:32:14Z")
I remember seeing a lightbulb store in New York City. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![caveman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caveman/32/7242_2.png) [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/3 "2010-03-29T21:51:29Z")
Here in Austin, we have Con’Olio, a store specializing in olive oil. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/4 "2010-03-29T21:59:10Z")
> [@caveman](#): > > Here in Austin, we have Con’Olio, a store specializing in olive oil. People of a certain age wouldn’t be able to resist snickering at that, myself included. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/5 "2010-03-29T22:06:33Z")
It occurred to me that we might as well include those Food Court vendors that sell only one or two things, even if their overhead may be considerably less than a store front would be. I can’t think of an example off the top of my head, but I know they must exist. A corn dog vendor perhaps. Gyros sandwich place. Pizza joints are way too common, unless there’s one that only sells pepperoni. That old SNL thing with the Cheeburger Cheeburger, no Coke, Pepsi. There’s a shop like that in Huntsville but it’s way too diversified to make a good contender for this thread. Just tossing out a few ideas with nothing to show for it. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/6 "2010-03-29T22:27:11Z")
There is a roadside doughnut vendor that operates out of a truck at the Queen Victoria market in Melbourne, which sells exactly one product - jam doughnuts with sugar on them. It’s called the “American Doughnut Kitchen” (and yes, that IS the spelling!) and it’s been going since around 1954 (I think - it’s painted on the side of the van). When you get to the counter, you say a number and they sell you that many doughnuts. That’s it. The prices of various quantities are printed on a big board at the window. Occasionally, (very occasionally) I have seen someone request their doughnuts without sugar coating (ie, they don’t dip them in the bowl of sugar before putting them in the bag). That’s the sum total of the customization of the product available. It’s probably the most successful single-item business in the country. They have about 6 employees crammed into the van beetling away at doughnut making every week, and there’s always a queue. It’s a bit of an institution, as you can probably imagine. ---
**Author:** ![QuercusMax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/8baadc/32.png) [@QuercusMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuercusMax)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/7 "2010-03-29T22:29:51Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > People of a certain age wouldn’t be able to resist snickering at that, myself included. \I need EVOO for my bunghole!\ That’s possibly the strangest thing I’ve ever posted. ---
**Author:** ![may\_be\_ignorant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@may\_be\_ignorant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/may_be_ignorant)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/8 "2010-03-29T22:55:37Z")
> [@QuercusMax](#): > > \I need EVOO for my bunghole!\ > > That’s possibly the strangest thing I’ve ever posted. I believe it. Theres a store near me that sells only picture frames. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/9 "2010-03-29T23:02:14Z")
There’s a store near us that only sells recycled (and refilled) inkjet printer cartridges. ---
**Author:** ![Sticks\_and\_Scones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sticks_and_scones/32/16951_2.png) [@Sticks\_and\_Scones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sticks_and_Scones)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/10 "2010-03-29T23:12:48Z")
Near my boyfriend’s house there’s a drive-thru watch battery replacement place. They built a brand new building for this! ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/11 "2010-03-29T23:22:35Z")
I find these swatch stores, that sell only Swiss watches, rather improbable. Also the Hershey store somewhere off Times Square in NYC. ---
**Author:** ![BigNik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/73ab20/32.png) [@BigNik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigNik)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/12 "2010-03-30T00:23:01Z")
There’s also an olive oil shop in Sydney. In 1990 (or thereabouts), on the way to Canberra, we stopped in at Goulburn (population about 18,000 at the time) and on seeing a shop called “Soap World” we decided that we had to check it out. It truly was a small world after all. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/13 "2010-03-30T01:21:02Z")
There’s a 3-story shop on the Vegas strip that sells nothing but M&M’s and M&M’s stuff. I know this isn’t exactly in the spirit of the OP or a big secret, but the thought of THREE STORIES of M&M stuff was a big shock to me when I visited. That, and the fact that the store was buzzing with people. Who wanted to buy M&M stuff. heh. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/14 "2010-03-30T01:21:33Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I remember seeing a lightbulb store in New York City. 🙂 I think Letterman visited this store (“Just Bulbs” as I remember) along with the lampshade-only store (“Just Shades”) on his old NBC show. And I remember visiting a store that only sold various Velcro products. (Sadly, no Velcro coveralls, though.) ---
**Author:** ![mkecane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@mkecane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkecane)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/15 "2010-03-30T02:06:24Z")
[Spatula City! Spatula City!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XbCWmY0eqY) ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/16 "2010-03-30T02:31:55Z")
Every now and then someone tries a high end dog treat shop. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/17 "2010-03-30T02:35:21Z")
How about strange double-item stores? There was a shop I went to in New York City that sold two things- eyeglasses and high-end designer chocolates. ---
**Author:** ![MagicEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/18 "2010-03-30T03:01:05Z")
I was just at the mall, and there’s a new store that sells nothing but princess-y things for little girls. It seems to be mostly tiny tutus in every color of the rainbow. I think the name is “Fairy Godmother.” You can apparently also get portraits done of your precious princess. Really bad portraits. If you want their sweet little faces to look lumpy and misshapen, that’s the place to go! I’ll be surprised if they’re still open in three months. It might help if they diversify. Any ideas? I’ve seen a few stores with kind of odd combinations–pool supplies and Christmas decorations (that makes sense, when you think about it), or videos and woodstoves. So you can rent a video for a cozy evening by the warm glowing warming glow of the woodstove, maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/19 "2010-03-30T03:16:08Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I remember seeing a lightbulb store in New York City. 🙂 There are no less than three light bulb stores within 2 miles of my workplace. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![tygre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@tygre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tygre)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/20 "2010-03-30T03:16:59Z")
My husband and I were in Toronto’s Chinatown and happened across a decent-sized shop selling nothing but ginseng. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257.md?page=2)