British people overwhelmingly refer to a shop as a shop. While Americans use "store" for most retail, in the UK, a "store" is often understood as a place for storage. Common terms include local shop, corner shop (small convenience store), or supermarket. Phrases used are "going to the shops" or "popping to the shops".
Shop or store? The nouns shop and store are used somewhat differently in American and British English. In general, Americans use store the way the British use shop — to describe any room or building where people can buy things or pay for a service.
Other than that, retail trading establishments for sale of goods are "shops" in British English. A "store" is a place dedicated for keeping things, not for selling them.
If you shop someone, you report them to the police for doing something illegal. [British, informal] His appalled family shopped him to the police. [ VERB noun + to]
"Shop" can also be used as a verb, meaning the act of purchasing goods. For example, "I really like to **shop** online for clothes!" 💻🛍️ So, remember: Store = big building 🏬; Shop = smaller place 🏪 or an action!
Note: In UK English, store refers to a large shop where many different types of goods are sold, but in US English store can mean either a large or a small place where different types of goods are sold, or only one type.
From Middle English shoppe, schoppe, from Old English sċoppa (“shed; booth; stall; shop”), from Proto-Germanic *skupp-, *skup- (“barn, shed”), from Proto-Indo-European *skub-, *skup- (“to bend, bow, curve, vault”).
Topshop (stylised in all caps; originally Top Shop) is a British online fast-fashion retailer, which specialises in women's clothing, shoes and accessories. It is majority owned by Danish company, Bestseller.
The term mall originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, it began to be used as a generic term for the large enclosed shopping centers that were becoming increasingly commonplace. In the United Kingdom and other countries, shopping malls may be called shopping centres.
mercantile establishment, outlet, retail store, sales outlet. a place of business for retailing goods. noun. small workplace where handcrafts or manufacturing are done. synonyms: workshop.
A junk shop is a retail outlet similar to a thrift store which sells mostly used goods at cheap prices. A low-quality antique shop may border on being a junk shop. Shoppers who frequent junk shops are often referred to as "junkers", "pickers", "bargain hunters", "rummagers", etc.
[countable] (especially British English) a building or part of a building where you can buy goods or services. to open/close/run a shop. There's a good selection of local shops. a record/pet shop.
In the United Kingdom, terms in common usage include "supermarket" (for larger grocery stores), "corner shop", "convenience shop", or "grocery" (meaning a grocery shop) for smaller stores. "Grocery store", being a North American term, is not used.
Retail shrinkage occurs when a company loses inventory from causes other than sales. Retail shrinkage causes a discrepancy between the inventory list and the number of products actually in stock. Shrinkage can occur because of shoplifting, employee theft, return fraud, administrative errors and operational loss.
In American English, this kind of building is usually called a store, and shop is only used to mean a very small store that has just one type of goods. Mom has gone to the store. I got it from a little antiques shop in Princeton.
