# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/21 "2010-03-30T03:23:01Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > How about strange double-item stores? There used to be a place in Niagara Falls, NY called HOTT TAN! and Watch. Yep, a tanning salon that also sold watches. And, yes, the spelling of the store’s name is correct. I read a story about a place in London (UK) that only sold Heinz ketchup. No other brands, just Heinz. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/22 "2010-03-30T07:05:27Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > There’s a store near us that only sells recycled (and refilled) inkjet printer cartridges. Sure, but that’s slightly more lucrative than a store that sells gold bars submerged in crude oil, topped with $100 bills. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/23 "2010-03-30T09:24:29Z")
My location field ‘Kingdom Of Butter’ is a reference to specialist stores - I used to work for a company that ran a bunch of small airport specialist stores - and it seemed the new ones were finding smaller and narrower niches every time - we ran several Swatch stores, other stores specialising in chocolates, one called World of Whisky (or something), another one - that sold nothing but lobsters. My colleague commented that they always seem to be called ‘Sock Universe’, ‘World Of Cheese’, "Planet Leather’ etc, and wondered out loud how long it would be before we opened a store called ‘Kingdom Of Butter’ ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/24 "2010-03-30T13:18:50Z")
Plastic Bagmart in Marietta, Ga. ---
**Author:** ![howye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9adbd/32.png) [@howye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/howye)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/25 "2010-03-30T13:50:20Z")
> [@TheChileanBlob](#): > > Plastic Bagmart in Marietta, Ga. What do they put your purchases in? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/26 "2010-03-30T13:51:22Z")
There is a store in Bilbao which opens for only one month a year. It sells angulas (baby eels), but only angulas, and only when they’re in season in the rivers nearby. They don’t even sell the full-size eels. ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/27 "2010-03-30T14:08:07Z")
Several years ago there was a small store on the south end of my hometown. It was called only by its owner’s last name. And what did it sell? Well, according to the sign out front, > [@](#): > > LIVE BAIT ANTIQUES HAIR CUTS Somehow I never found the time to go inside. ---
**Author:** ![snowmaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@snowmaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowmaster)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/28 "2010-03-30T14:22:13Z")
> [@QuercusMax](#): > > \I need EVOO for my bunghole!\ > > That’s possibly the strangest thing I’ve ever posted. OH GOD! I’m going to simultaneously laugh and vomit myslef to death! ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/29 "2010-03-30T14:32:22Z")
I used to live in a fairly small city (250,000) that had a hot sauce shop. It’s also where I found Bacon Salt. For a weird story, there’s some Asian immigrants there that run a computer shop, and finally made enough money for their dream of opening a gelato store. But then they were like, can we do this on just gelato and ice cream? So they opened a generic Chinese food restaurant featuring homemade gelato. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/30 "2010-03-30T14:48:03Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > I read a story about a place in London (UK) that only sold Heinz ketchup. No other brands, just Heinz. I think this wins. Not only do they sell only one limited type of item, they only sell one brand of it. (The M&Ms store doesn’t count, because people will spend money on anything in Vegas.) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/31 "2010-03-30T14:48:17Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > There is a store in Bilbao which opens for only one month a year. It sells angulas (baby eels), but only angulas, and only when they’re in season in the rivers nearby. They don’t even sell the full-size eels. Opening sometime fairly soon, by my calculation. Mmmm… food with eyes… ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/32 "2010-03-30T14:48:35Z")
The one book bookstore. Guy wrote a book, published it himself and opened a store to sell it. [http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20113659,00.html](http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20113659,00.html) ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/33 "2010-03-30T14:55:51Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > I read a story about a place in London (UK) that only sold Heinz ketchup. No other brands, just Heinz. I went to a mustard store once. Somewhere in Maryland, on the Eastern Shore I think. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/34 "2010-03-30T14:59:35Z")
Surely somewhere on this planet there’s a store (or at least a shop) that’s called “Bolts” and it doesn’t even carry Nuts (or washers), but they have a webpage where you can order them online and get same day Fedex for the nut and washer of your choice. How far do you live from a hardware store and how badly would thay have pissed you off before you would even go in a place like that? ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/35 "2010-03-30T15:14:48Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > I think this wins. Not only do they sell only one limited type of item, they only sell one brand of it. (The M&Ms store doesn’t count, because people will spend money on anything in Vegas.) [Found an article about said store.](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/2994122.stm) I knew I wasn’t making this up. ---
**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, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/36 "2010-03-30T15:34:40Z")
I used to go to this huge warehouse style store in San Francisco that sold nothing but paper. Every kind of paper you could imagine, from rolls of butcher paper to tiny scraps of handmade Nepali yeti fur paper. But still- it’s just a bunch of paper. In Santa Cruz, there was a business that rented cars. Except that it only rented one kind of car, and kind of a strange one at that. I can’t remember exactly what it was, but it was along the lines of “Rent a Rabbit.” Specialized stores are one of the fun parts of living abroad. In China, not only is a light bulb store not unusual, but you find whole neighborhoods dedicated to Christmas lights, another to colored fluorescent bulbs, and yet another to those lights that look like fake candle flames, etc. The best though was in Cameroon when I needed a kind of long scarf that is only worn by kings for a costume. I wandered around the local big-city market asking every hat dealer if they had a king scarf. They pointed me here and there until I finally found him- the one dude who sells that one kind of scarf to kings. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/37 "2010-03-30T15:43:22Z")
> [@](#): > > 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. I know two different stores that sell hardware on the first floor and used books on the second floor. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/38 "2010-03-30T15:47:55Z")
Last month I finally walked into a store that I had walked past a million times – Condom World. I was curious as to how they could stay in business (on probably the highest rent street in the city) selling just one item. As it turns out they sold far more than condoms. In fact, the only thing I didn’t see for sale was… condoms. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/39 "2010-03-30T16:04:58Z")
> [@QuercusMax](#): > > \I need EVOO for my bunghole!\ Someone, somewhere has just started pounding out a Rachel Ray-themed porno. ---
**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, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257/40 "2010-03-30T16:12:03Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Someone, somewhere has just started pounding out a Rachel Ray-themed porno. More like “pounding one out to a Rachael Ray-themed porno.” I’m sure they already exist! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/return-of-the-most-specialized-store/534257.md?page=3)