Which stores would I expect to find in every main street of a generic midsized town in your country?

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1. An United Colors of Benetton store, a Sephora or at least one parfume shop, at least one bar, a pharmacy, and a bookstore.

   We don’t really have that many “prestigious” chains around.

2. Charity shops, betting shops, phone repair shops, vape stores, hairdressers and other beauty related things like tanning and nails etc.

3. A HEMA and a Blokker (homeware stores). A drugstore like Kruidvat. You often find a butcher, (either local or a national chain like Keurslager) and a bakery ( a local chain or national chain like Bakker Bart). And a hairdresser, those you see a lot.

4. Γρηγόρης, Everest, Coffee Island (all three are coffee & sandwich shops), ΟΠΑΠ (gambling store) and a line of thousand pharmacies that all work the same hours… If you know, you know.

5. Hearing aids, cheap bakeries (not the high quality stuff), opticians, mobile phone shop, barber shop, döner shop, 1-3 fast fashion shops, a drugstore (usually dm).

6. “Żabka”, which translates to “Froggy”. It’s type of shop you could expect to find on gas station – tiny and you can buy nearly everything there. Except that you can expect to see them literally everywhere. In one spot of city I live in you can find at least 4 in two square mile radius, two of them right next to each other

7. pharmacy, butchers, corner shop, phone shop/place that sells vapes, charity shop, bookies, chipper, hairdressers, small clothing shop – i know those are types and not actual store names but a lot of them would be independent. ‘Guinan’s Pharmacy’ ‘McKinnon’s Shop’ – that kind of thing

8. A small supermarket (Tesco Express/Sainsbury’s Local/Co-op), a café (Costa Coffee/Caffe Nero), a pharmacy (Boots/Superdrug) a chain pizza restaurant (Pizza Express), a bank (Lloyds/NatWest/HSBC/Barclays), a betting shop (Paddy Power/Ladbrokes), a newsagents run by an East African Asian family, a charity shop (Oxfam/Marie Curie), a crappy Chinese and/or Indian takeaway and a generic chain pub ((Wether)Spoons).

   In a poorer area: a discount shop (Poundland/BM Bargains), a kebab/chicken shop (Wyoming Fried Chicken), a local caff (downmarket café often serving traditional fry-ups).

   In a richer/touristy area: a nice independent café, a bookshop (Waterstones), a deli, a shop selling fudge, multiple estate agents (Foxton’s).

9. We don’t really do this thing with a “main street” in like any city beside maybe Stockholm and Gothenburg. Usually stores are mostly just centred around the city centre being on several streets or being on a pedestrian only/priority area.

   You’ll find your usual stores for well most things. It could be small clothing stores, some retail stores for smaller electrical accessories, hardware, household products, sports equipment, home decoration stuff, hair salons/barber, a cafe or confectionery. Maybe some bank office? A pizzera or two. Some restaurants here and there maybe.

   You will not find walmart kinds of stores, you might find some pharmacy, fast food chains besides Pizzerias aren’t too common. But it depends on the city.

10. I’d say:

    – **FNAC** for electronic and cultural products

    – **Nature & Découvertes** for well-being themed products

    – **Yves Rocher**, **Nocibé**, **Sephora** and **Kiko** for beauty stores

    – **H&M** and **Zara** for clothes

    – At least one of our main phone operators (**Orange, SFR or Bouygues**)

    – **PAUL** bakery

    – **Julien D’Orcel** and **Bijou Brigitte** for jewelry.

11. Not all of them, but a good many: Penninn Eymundsson (stationery/bookshop), Lyfja and/or Lyfjaver and/or Apótekarinn (drug stores), 10-11 (expensive grocery stores).

12. * ICA, Coop or Hemköp (grocery store).
    * Systembolaget (alcohol monopoly store)
    * H&M/Dessmann/Lindex/Kappahl (clothing store)
    * Stadium/Intersport (sports clothing store)
    * Din sko/Skopunkten/Ecco (shoe store)
    * Apoteket/Apoteket Hjärtat/Kronans Apotek (pharmacy)
    * Claes Ohlsson/Kjell & Company/Elgiganten/Media Markt (home electronics)
    * McDonald’s/Max Hamburgare/Sibylla/Non-franchise pizza/kebab stores (fast food)
    * Folktandvården (public dentistry)
    * Åhléns (higher end misc consumer products)
    * Kicks (cosmetics)
    * Dustin home/Webhallen
    * Rusta/Jula/Biltema
    * Newspaper/tobacco kiosk.
    * Hair dresser.

13. In the main street/place? None.
    1-2 streets from it? Coop, Migros, Kiosk.

14. Burger King and/or McDonalds, H&M, ICA or Coop or Willy:s, Espresso House, any of the like 3 drugstore chains.

15. All our “cities” are midsized towns if you compare them to west Europe.

    You will have:

    H&M/Zara

    McDonalds

    DM/Müller

    Spar/Mercator

    Some type of shoe store

    A bar/coffee place

16. Multiple convenience stores (usually Profi or Mega Image/Carrefour), one or two pharmacies (Dr. Max, Sensiblu etc.), a local restaurant or bar, a branch of a bank (BCR, BRD, Banca Transilvania), multiple (4-5) betting agencies from all the major chains (Superbet, Fortuna, Stanleybet, Casa Pariurilor or other) and a couple of pawn shops. If you are lucky you might find a fast food like McDonald’s or KFC but that’s not usually the case and there are also service points for cell providers (Vodafone, Orange, Digi)

17. Let’s say is not a capital of one of the federal subjects, but a district centre. Something like Jefremov in Tula oblastj with its Lenin street:

    – Ozon and Wilberries (the largest internet marketplaces) pick up points
    – the “house of chores”, an ex-Soviet building where you have things tailored, your hair cut, your electronics repaired and your photo taken
    – the offices of at least one of the “big four” mobile phone operators
    – inexpensive supermarkets like Pâtôroćka, Magnit, Krasnoje&Beloje, Bristol
    – microlenders and pawn shops
    – a bookie
    – a hairdressing salon named after a woman
    – DNS, an electronics and household appliances shop
    – half a dozen chemist’s (some independent, some from a chain)
    – a handful of independent clothing stores
    – a Sberbank branch and maybe a couple more banks

    If you want more chain stores, you have to move to a bigger town.

18. On main streets. Tough question. Supermarkets moved to the outskirts mostly and your run of the mill chain tends to avoid small and mid sized towns and are found in malls on the outskirts. So you are left with mostly local shops. Maybe a Douglas, DM, BIPA (Drugstore/Parfumeries) and a Libro (School and Office stuff) can be found.

19. Belgium (Flanders)

    * Kruidvat: sells a bit of everything; candy, snacks, personal care items, toys,..
    * Standaard Boekhandel: bookstore chain.
    * H&M and/or C&A: cheap clothing chains
    * Panos: sandwich shop with mediocre quality products
    * Zeeman: very cheap clothing chain
    * Rituals: cosmetics store
    * Carrefour Express or Delhaize Proxy: small shops of supermarket chains
    * A local pharmacy and optician.
    * A tearoom or ice cream shop
    * Domino’s: A recent evolution. Other Fast food chains like McDonalds, Burger King or Quick (our local version) are in small towns usually found at the edges next to major roads.

20. The minimum level to qualify as a hamlet entails having a bar/tabacchi which is a place open all day which serves coffee, sandwiches and drinks from behind a bar (ergo Barista) but also sells cigarettes, chocolate and lotto cards. This is the main place Italians will congregate

    To reach the next level, you need at least two bar/tabacchi (at least one with video poker machines), a pizzeria/trattoria and a “chinese” store. You are now a village

    By the time you are hitting smaller town levels you better be offering a whole host of bar/tabacchi, competing chinese mega shops, “ethnic” restaurants (at least 2 of the following; kebab, chinese, all you can eat sushi), at least one “irish” pub, two cinemas and a Calzedonia shop. If you have a Bingo Hall and/or strip club in the town outskirts you get bonus points

    If you have a Feltrinelli book shop you are already at respectful mid size town levels

21. A pharmacy (Apotek1, Boots or Vitus apotek)
    A sports store (Intersport, Sport1,… )
    A hardware or handiwork store (Jernia, Jula)
    A flower shop
    A café / coffee shop
    An electronics shop (Elkjøp, Powet, Kjell&Company)
    An interior design or kitchen equipment store
    A book store (Ark, Norli) – may also double as toy store
    Vinmonopolet – alchoholic beverages shop

    In more rural areas, maybe also stores for farmers and carpenters.

    Interesting how the Nordics include sports stores.

22. First and foremost – Systembolaget (the state alcohol monopoly)

    Maybe an H&M but it depends (one city of 22k has one, another with 30k does not) and a Dressmann, maybe

    Åhlens and/or Lindex (all clothing stores).Some type of ICA is very probable, otherwise

    Coop or Hemköp (supermarkets).Some type of pharmacy, maybe Apoteket, Kronans

    Apotek, whateverSome higher end resturant chain like a Harrys or O’Learys

    A Subway is often present and a McDonalds is nearby, but not on mainstreet, it is more off to the side, to make have a drive-through.

    An optician, Specsavers for example

    That is the chains and franchises but you also have other stores like:

    A generic “turkburk”, with Ria Money exhange stickers covering the windows. It migth be called Ali’s livs or Mohammeds Hörna or something. (conveiniece store run by immigrants)

    A “thai” place that has swedifyed thai, chinese and japanese food. Called something like “Sushi-Thai Take-Away”. Has both sit down and take away. Also the obligatory lunch buffet.

    A pizzeria that serves everything from our national dish of kebab pizza to other pizzas to pasta to hamburgers to gyros to our other national dish of meatballs. Has a completely random name

    A “thing store”. Run buy a middle aged white woman, sells decorative items. Called something like “Annas lilla hörna” (Anna’s small corner) “Evas gröna rum” (Eva’s green room)

23. Supermarkets: Supervalu, Tesco, Dunnes, Lidl, Aldi. Most towns have all 5

    Convenience Stores: Centra, Spar, Mace

    Clothes Shop: Penneys (Primark)

    Bookshop: Eason

    Fast Food: Supermacs, McDonalds, Subway

    Bookies: Paddy Power

    Video Games: GameStop

    Coffee: Costa, Starbucks

24. I’m always amazed to see Matas everywhere, even in smaller towns. It’s a store that sells cosmetics and supplements and a few other health related items that you might also find in the pharmacy.

25. Auchan/Carrefour/Leclerc/Casino nationwide, Super U and Hyper U in some regions, all of them are supermarket franchises

    Regarding clothes : Gemo/Kiabi/Jules/Celio

    Sometimes specific ones like Decathlon for sports/outside activities outfits or Leroy Merlin for tools

    Micromania for videogames maybe, they used to be well known but as physical games are getting less importants they have less shops

    Fnac for books, smartphones, music, headphones

    Boulanger is like Fnac, without the books