Not a store but I was a morning regular at the coffee shop across from one of our buildings until I started working from home.
The drycleaner, the restaurant where we go for our “date night” and, disconcertingly, the pharmacy. Only one of the pharmacists seems to know me though.
I try to keep a low profile. There is a place near me called the Bull & Finch pub that is quite the neighborhood hangout. I went in there one day and didn’t see anyone I knew.
The barber shop. I go to a shop owned by Vietnamese guy and all the barbers are Vietnamese but it’s really just an old-fashioned barber shop. I started taking my son there for buzz cuts when he was young then started getting my own hair cut. They ask how my daughter’s doing, is she still dancing, is my son playing baseball this season, am I going to Egypt this year, etc.
Another small-towner here, so a lot more places than I’m used to. We used to be friendly with the couple who ran the country store across the river, but they sold the place and left. The new guy isn’t as friendly. My mechanic is beginning to know me, too. There actually aren’t many other places near us.
snerk
Well, it doesn’t seem like everyone knows me at the pet store. They really do know me. The owner and her two employees are the only ones there and I’m quite friendly with the owner. She’s been to my house and we go to the same events at the dog training center.
The pharmacy. This one is a bit depressing. A year ago I took no medication. Now I take 3 and I also frequently pick up my boyfriend’s one regular prescription and occasional Z-packs. They know us both by sight and it’s not just the techs. All the pharmacists know us too and I rarely even ask them questions!
The garden center at Home Depot. This summer I’ve been in there a lot and several people know me.
Me, too.
Many know me at the musical instrument store.
Sadly, Burger King. Sigh. Several of them can ring up my order without asking… all the way down to wanting the cup with no lid.
My mechanic knows me as does the lady who cuts my hair. A few of the cashier’s at the supermarket know me too.
Not really a store but the police all know my voice. I work in a 9-1-1 center and am on the radio all the time. Hardly any of them know my face. I’ve been recognized by voice alone many times.
One of the butchers at the farmer’s market near my house. He makes pepperettes. I go on Saturday mornings and buy five hot and five medium, in different bags if the mediums are for my mother. And one landjäger. They know not to put it in a bag. I eat it as I wander around. I think it might be my “Meat is Murder. Tasty, tasty murder” shirt that makes me memorable there…
I started smoking at 31. I smoke only one thing: Djarum black cloves. That’s it; that’s all.
I am pretty sure that, were I to disappear off the map, all anyone would have to do is start checking 7-11s/smoke shops and ask about the redhead with glasses who buys the cloves and I’d be busted.
The Asian grocery, it’s quite far, but worth the trip. We’ve spent a lot of time traveling, developing tastes for things only found in Asia. We’ve been going to their store a really long time. It’s mostly Asian and Carribean’s who go there. The cashier used to always say, ‘You eat this?’, or, ‘You cook this?’. I love going there as it’s filled with awesomeness, I could wander around all day. I always by the mango gummies, and my favorite mango juice, the Indo Mie ramen noodles, my favorite chillie sauce, etc, etc. Also durian, longans, fresh fish. And a ton of stuff I couldn’t identify in a million years! That’s what makes it fun.
There are many stores, nearby to us, where no one would know us, if we walked through the door, so it’s kind of funny that we have such a history with these people. From back when they had the old way, way over packed store.
Ha Ha Ha! I haven’t thought about these in ages and ages!
Hubby smoked these in Indonesia, I could never manage more than a puff, myself. Then I used to seek them out and buy him a pack for his stocking at Christmas! It was awesome to be in the other room, out of sight, when he’d light one. I’d suddenly be transported back to our time there, it was like an instant LSD flashback!
I stopped buying them for him, when I checked out how much tar and nicotine they had.
I just had the clerk at the local liquor store tell me “I know you, I don’t need to see your ID”. I’m not sure if I should be flattered or ashamed.
Two local bars…my Wednesday Sushi place…the place I get a bagel for breakfast once or twice a month… I’m working on the salad place near the office.
My favorite ‘regular’ story. My first local bar…I had been going there for a decade or so at this point… I was in a phase at work where I had a lot of conference calls with a group in China. So I showed up at the bar around 8:30pm, on my cell phone. I walked past my friends and went to the back area, which was empty and quiet. The waitress brought waved at me and brought me my regular beer. I finished it during the call…she noticed, and brought me another. I finished the call during that beer, and joined my friends.
It was really nice being taken care of like that, without having to interrupt my work. 
-D/a
Neither. Once I’ve ID’d someone once or twice, I know their face enough to remember that they’re of age, even if they’re not constant purchasers of their particular vice.
Joe
The library and my favourite hobby shop (it opened the year I was born, I’ve been buying there for over 40 years, and the original owner still runs it).
My local (a cocktail bar.) That will change soon because they mistreated my favorite bartender, I’m going to start going to a place she recommended.
My vet - with two dogs and three cats, yeah. I’ve been going there for nine years, which is as long as our oldest pet is old.
The university library - enough so that I’m usually informed if someone is at my favourite table back in the stacks at the back, so I don’t have to walk all the way back there to check.
The pet store - see above.