Today I was in a part of town I never have before.

I saw a store JUST for badminton.

  • TrackinDaKraken
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    17 days ago

    Rubber stamp store. Just shelf after shelf of rubber stamps and rubber stamp accessories.

  • Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org
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    17 days ago

    Screws. A whole shop especially for screws and nuts, and you could buy bigger boxes, or smaller boxes, or only one or two, and they took their time to give advice, always with the same friendliness and helpfulness, whether you left a few cents or some real money.

    • TrackinDaKraken
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      17 days ago

      I wouldn’t go in there often, but I’d be grateful for it when I did.

    • Jajcus@sh.itjust.works
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      17 days ago

      We have a ‘Mr Gwint’ shop in my city (‘gwint’ means ‘thread’ in Polish, and the word is probably familiar to The Witcher players). They mainly sell various fastenings, but also tools and other related stuff. They have a big note on the door ‘Only wholesale, no retail. Only full packaging.’ But whenever I went there and asked for some screws, they would sell me much less than the full package. Friendly (to the Polish standards, that is) and helpful, unlike the sign on the door. But I wouldn’t dare asking for just one or two basic screws.

  • taiyang
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    17 days ago

    I think my favorite is Nothing Bundt Cakes that sells Bundt cakes. It’s a chain, and yes I only like it because of the pun.

  • ZapBeebz_
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    17 days ago

    I came across a very narrow, 5 story store in Japan, a bit off the beaten path in Akihabara, selling exclusively N scale model trains. They had a floor or two dedicated just to the models, another one for scenery, and at least one just for repair parts for your trains. It was really cool to get to see a store that was pretty clearly a passion project for the owner(s) apparently doing well, and filling quite the niche in the hobby (I imagine)

  • Blibly
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    17 days ago

    An entire store full of african-american romance novels. In a VERY white area. It did not stay open long 😞

    • Feathercrown
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      17 days ago

      The existence of that store feels more like a statement than a business decision

        • Feathercrown
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          14 days ago

          https://youtu.be/ilsef7LrrYw?is=HrIRX-yHF2gJ8dxa

          In all seriousness, I didn’t take the time to really think it through before, but: the store chose a narrow market and went out of business rather quickly, so it didn’t have a good business plan; but it would make an interesting statement to see that store close so fast compared to bookstores which sell romance novels with characters likely to match their clients’ race, which might reveal a sort of widespread casual racism. Or just that readers prefer characters they think they will relate to more strongly. It’s an interesting conversation point whichever way you look at it, is my point.

  • kboos1
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    17 days ago

    I’ve been in a Christmas store that all year long only sold Christmas stuff.

    • MrsDoyle@sh.itjust.works
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      17 days ago

      True story. My niece went into a Christmas shop in our home town looking for a nativity set.

      Assistant: “A what?”

      “A nativity set - you know, Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus…”

      Assistant: “What’s Jesus got to do with Christmas?”

    • toynbee@piefed.social
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      14 days ago

      I used to live in Lancaster, PA and the outlets had one of these. I’ve only ever seen the one, but I was given to understand they are a chain.

    • MintyFresh
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      15 days ago

      I could be into that. A good pickle is something to behold.

    • Treczoks
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      17 days ago

      There are several, for some unknown reason, in Amsterdam.

        • Treczoks
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          17 days ago

          We live at the same river, but I have yet to find a rubber duck store anywhere closer than Amsterdam - which is hundreds of kilometers from here.

          • wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz
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            16 days ago

            I was being facetious, because otherwise there would be rubber duck stores at every river. Also it would be an environmental disaster if the ducks were for the river

  • SanguinePar
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    17 days ago

    It’s very recently closed its doors, sadly, but you’d be hard pressed to find a more specific shop than long-time Edinburgh landmark, Borland’s:

  • artifex@piefed.zip
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    17 days ago

    I’ve been in a knitting store before. Just yarn and needles and patterns. I can’t imagine how they stay in business.

      • artifex@piefed.zip
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        17 days ago

        yep, I have two in the family, it just didn’t seem like there could be enough knitter-foot-traffic to keep the place open selling $4 spools of yarn

          • tal@lemmy.today
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            17 days ago

            It’s been a long time since I’ve bought a skein of yarn, but surely one can get one for less than that.

            hits Amazon

            It looks like on Amazon, they start at about $4 individually. If you get a pack, it goes under $1/skein.

            Those brick-and-mortar stores much have a pretty substantial markup, unless we’re talking premium yarn of some sort.

            • SpaceNoodle
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              17 days ago

              Yes, it’s not acrylic baby-melting trash. You’re comparing McDonald’s to omakase. Try visiting your local yarn store before making any more assumptions.

              • RebekahWSD
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                17 days ago

                Looking over at the lantern moon knitting needles and the merino wool skeins nervously, as though they’ll start tattling on their costs!

    • FishFace@piefed.social
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      17 days ago

      Is that… uncommon? There was one in the town I grew up in.

      Actually I looked it up and it also sold thread, ribbons and stuff like that. I guess you’d call it a haberdashery. Maybe one just for wool is less common?

    • sudoMakeUser@sh.itjust.works
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      17 days ago

      Those are fairly common in North America and in a lot of places in Europe are found everywhere. Knitting is having a resurgence with young people.

  • Truffle@lemmy.ml
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    17 days ago

    I had to go to a store that only sells custom made stirrups as my kid needed some for their horse. I was absolutely overwhelmed about how many differences there are about them. Kid was happy.