History Main / SeverelySpecializedStore

-->'''Customer:''' ''*haughty*'' "Yes, hello. I am hosting a a very important party at my mansion this evening. I'll be entertaining some foreign dignitaries, heads of state and the like... Couple of kings, maybe a duke or two; we'll see who shows up. Anyway, I wanted to spruce the place up a little bit, so tell me: what to you have in the way of ''balloons?''"
-->'''Balloon Store Employee:''' "Well, sir, we have this model, which is red, as you see. We've also got a new line of mylar that just came--"

-->'''Balloon Store Employee:''' "Well, sir, we have this model, which is red, as you can see. We've also got a new line of mylar that just came--"

-->'''Customer:''' ''*haughty*'' "Yes, hello. I am hosting a a very important party at my mansion this evening. I'll be entertaining some foreign dignitaries, heads of state and the like... Couple of kings, maybe a duke or two; we'll see who shows up. Anyway, I'd like to spruce the place up a bit, so tell me: what to you have in the way of ''balloons?''"

* Paul F. Tompkins had a bit on how confused and amused he was to spot a store called "Elegant Balloons" in a mall, when a store that sold only balloons is already niche enough as it stands, leading to the hypothetical exchange that has to take place frequently enough for such a store to exist:

** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E13TheJoyOfSect The Joy of Sect]]" shows Springfield Airport has "Just [[Creator/MichaelCrichton Crichton]] and [[Creator/StephenKing King]] Bookstore", a parody of small bookstores overstocking on only the most popular authors, especially those found in airports. The cashier will not entertain a request for Creator/RobertLudlum.

* In ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'' Generictown has "[[http://bobadventures.comicgenesis.com/d/20110705.html Queenie's Pawn Shop,]]" which literally sells chess pawns. A sign reads, "We also have ''checkers!'' Black ''and'' red! Buy a checker today!"

*** The pricing of wands is confusing, however. Despite their importance, wands are not expensive items; Ollivanders sell them at 7 galleons apiece, which is the equivalent of £34.51. Unlike houses, wands last for a ''lifetime'', so the price looks way too low for something that important. Though it could be because WritersCannotDoMath.
*** It also brings up a question. If someone only has to buy a wand once in his lifetime, and people buy wands before entering school, then how do wandmakers live by the rest of the year? Do their shops only open for a single month, during the school entrance season? There are cases of people losing their wands and needing to buy again, but they are never for natural reasons and are sporadic at best.
*** Creator/HankGreen wrote [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVJraCXf97g a song]] lampshading this.

** When Homer wants to buy a hammock in Cypress Creek in "You Only Move Twice," he finds out there's an entire hammock district downtown.
** "The Joy of Sect" shows Springfield Airport has "Just [[Creator/MichaelCrichton Crichton]] and [[Creator/StephenKing King]] Bookstore", a parody of small bookstores overstocking on only the most popular authors, especially those found in airports. The cashier will not entertain a request for Creator/RobertLudlum.

*** Wandmakers also do wand repair, and we know from the books that wands do get damaged. Not to mention, there are some extremely fashion conscious wizards and witches who would undoubtedly want to change their wands match whatever the season's hot trend is.
** A great deal of the Wizarding shops seem to be this way, some more justified than others. Potage's Cauldron Shop sells nothing but cauldrons, and Scrivenshaft's is a borderline example, selling almost nothing but quills.
*** Arguably Scrivenshaft's is no odder than stores that only sell fountain pens, and they exist in RealLife.

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' has the Polearm Shop. More general armories are also shown, but one strip has Roy go to a Polearm Shop. It's a reference to the "[[Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus Cheese Shop]]" sketch, so not only is the shop overspecialized, it doesn't actually have any polearms at the moment. Fortunately for the shop owner, Roy doesn't have a weapon with which to kill him with for wasting his time like in the original sketch.

'''Salespony:''' Sorry, junior. All outta quills 'til Monday. ([[{{Beat}} beat]]) Need a sofa?

'''[[FanNickname Davenport]]:''' Sorry, junior. All outta quills 'til Monday. ([[{{Beat}} beat]]) Need a sofa?

** Ned Flanders once opened up and maintained a "Leftorium" store for left-handed products for left-handed people. It was initially a bust, until Homer Simpson started feeling bad for [[ComedicSociopathy enjoying Flanders' misfortune]] and scrounged up as many left-handed customers as he could.

** When Homer wanted to buy a hammock:
--->'''Hank Scorpio:''' Uh, hi, Homer. What can I do for you?\\
'''Homer:''' Sir, I need to know where I can get some business hammocks.\\
'''Hank Scorpio:''' Hammocks? My goodness, what an idea. Why didn't I think of that? Hammocks! Homer, there's four places. There's the Hammock Hut, that's on third.\\
'''Homer:''' Uh-huh.\\
'''Hank Scorpio:'''' There's Hammocks-R-Us, that's on third too. You got Put-Your-Butt-There.\\
'''Homer:''' Mm-Hmm.\\
'''Hank Scorpio:''' That's on third. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot... Matter of fact, they're all in the same complex; it's the hammock complex on third.\\
'''Homer:''' Oh, the hammock district!

** Played with in the "Cheese Shop" skit, with a store that sells nothing but cheese... only they don't.
--->'''Customer:''' Tell me something: Do you have any cheese at all?\\
'''Owner:''' Yes, sir.\\
'''Customer:''' Now, I'm going to ask you that question once more, and if you say "no" I'm going to shoot you through the head. Now: Do you have any cheese at all?\\
'''Owner:''' ''(resignedly)'' No.\\
'''Customer:''' ''(shoots the owner)'' {{What a senseless waste of human life}}...

* An entire joke in an episode of ''WebVideo/CodeMENT'' is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAUnDDTz30k this]]. After Suzaku calls Lelouch, he says he'll be right over, but he's buying clothes and can't find any. It turns out that Suzaku's at the soup store.