History Main / TheConvenientStoreNextDoor

* The Edward G. Robinson movie ''LarcenyInc.'' features the humorous subversion described above, with the luggage-store front turning a brisk business.

* An episode of ''ChalkZone'' has the criminals attempt this kind of heist. However, the wall they're breaking through is a chalk surface, and the gang learned of the plan beforehand. HilarityEnsues.

* In one of the John Dortmunder short stories by Donald E. Westlake, Dortmunder and his crew tunnel into a bank from a nearby building. They emerge in the middle of another bank robbery and become part of hostage situation. They ultimately end up using their tunnel to help the hostages escape.

* The world's second largest bank theft, in 2005, Fortaleza, Brazil, used this. The organized burglars bought a building a couple of blocks away from their target, Banco Central, set up a synthetic-grass store as a front, then started to dig up a professionally engineered tunnel to the bank, managing to steal 160 million reais -- the equivalent of $94 million -- in the operation.

* The first published book of TheStainlessSteelRat series starts with that as the protagonist's latest job. He rents a part of a warehouse. Next room, there is a large amount of seldom checked government supplies. He makes a hole, and sells these supplies with different labels.

* ''TheBankJob'' plays with the trope a bit, as their cover for the tunnelling operation is building contractors doing some renovation work on an empty property. [[spoiler: It also works rather well, though things go rather badly wrong ''after'' they pull off the heist.]]

* In the ''{{Leonardo}}'' episode "Diabolical Acts", strolling players erect a temporary stage outside the Medicis' bank to put on a play celebrating Lorenzo de'Medici's engagement. It's actually a ruse to break into the vault from beneath the stage.

* In a ''HogansHeroes'' episode, Hogan had to go through The Convenient ''House'' Next Door to get to a bank. He distracts the owner of the house by sweet-talking her and playing Hitler's speeches ''reeeallly'' loud on the radio so Carter can use the jackhammer in the next room.

* Has happened in ''{{Hustle}}''.

A stock plot in [[TheCaper Caper]] movies, where some kind of store is right next to a bank or jewelery store criminals wish to rob, and will rent that property for the purposes of tunneling through to their target. Sometimes, in more humorous examples, the crooks actually become competent at their front business and will eventually [[FakeRealTurn pursue that legitimately]] in opposition to the CutLexLuthorACheck trope.

A stock plot in Heist movies where some kind of store is right next to a bank or jewelery store criminals wish to rob, and will rent that property for the purposes of tunneling through to their target. Sometimes, in more humorous examples, the crooks actually become competent at their front business and will eventually [[FakeRealTurn pursue that legitimately]] in opposition to the CutLexLuthorACheck trope.

* The world's second largest bank theft, in 2005, Fortaleza, Brazil, used this. The organized burglars bought a building a couple of blocks away from their target, Banco Central, set up a synthetic-grass store as a front, then started to dig up a professionally engineered tunnel to the bank, managing to steal the equivalent to 94 million dollars in the operation.

* In the French film ''{{Rififi}}'', criminals rent the office above a jewelery store and tunnel in through the ceiling.

* An episode of ''{{Castle}}'' plays on this, with the owner of a pet store that was broken into stating that he's behind a bank. [[spoiler:In reality, the pet store was a front for a diamond smuggling operation, and was the thieves' target the whole time.]]

* In an episode of ''BurnNotice'', Michael and Jesse gain access to a bank by breaking into the much less heavily protected law office upstairs and tunnel through the conference room floor into the vault.
* A variation in ''WhiteCollar'' has Neal engineering an escape plan with Mozzie's help, involving setting up a bakery in some office space directly below a judge's chambers. The bakery opens on the day of Neil's hearing, and he uses its "Grand Opening" awning to make his escape.

* ''TheBankJob''

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'' did this bizarrely by combining it with a "shoemaker and the elves" plot. It involved a restaurant next to a bank, and the "temporary owners" suffering from mysteriously appearing bowls of cheese chowder that were favored by the local police.

* In Mr. ''Series/{{Monk}}'' and the Employee of the Month", it wasn't the Mega-Mart store itself, but the parking space reserved for the employee of the month that provided easy access to a bank, thanks to a well-placed manhole. The scheming cashier killed her rival to get the space, parked her van with a modified floor over the manhole, and every day during her shift her two flunkies would dig, filling the van with dirt.

** "Mr. Monk And The Actor" played with this: A man breaks into a jewlery shop by smashing through the wall of the neighboring restaurant, [[spoiler: but the real point of this was to destroy that particular wall. The restaurant employed artists to sketch everyone who ate there and one such sketch depicted the man with the episode's murder victim shortly before he killed her.]]

* In ''StarkRavingMad'' (2002), with a nightclub.

'''Examples:'''

* Both versions of ''TheLadykillers'' involve renting a room in a private residence, not a store, but the idea is the same.

* OlderThanTelevision: The Franchise/SherlockHolmes story ''The Red-Headed League'' (1891) does this with a shop across the way from a bank.

* In one DocSavage novel, criminals strike at Doc by renting the office next to his and attacking the wall. (This causes a few continuity problems for fans as most DocSavage stories state that he rents the entire floor of the skyscraper.)

* The Creator/WoodyAllen film ''Film/SmallTimeCrooks''. They used a cookie store front while they try to tunnel across the street to the bank. They fail (to say the least), but the cookies are so popular, it turns them into instant millionaires.

* The Creator/WoodyAllen film ''SmallTimeCrooks''. They used a cookie store front while they try to tunnel across the street to the bank. They fail (to say the least), but the cookies are so popular, it turns them into instant millionaires.

* The WoodyAllen film ''SmallTimeCrooks''. They used a cookie store front while they try to tunnel across the street to the bank. They fail (to say the least), but the cookies are so popular, it turns them into instant millionaires.

* OlderThanTelevision: The SherlockHolmes story ''The Red-Headed League'' (1891) does this with a shop across the way from a bank.

* An episode of ''Car54WhereAreYou'' was based around an eatery next to a bank. A single scene at the end of the episode replayed the entire plot with the buildings' next owners, who were posing as stamp dealers.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan'' episode "Damage Control", the Wrecking Crew busted into a laundromat during one of their rampages, intending to come back during the reconstruction and break through the wall into the bank next door.

* In "WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers", Bob hires [[spoiler: a bank robber who once held him hostage.]] Turns out he was just tunneling into the bank from his basement.

* The first published book of TheStainlessSteelRat book starts with that as the protagonist's latest job. He rents a part of a warehouse. Next room, there is a large amount of seldom checked government supplies. He makes a hole, and sells these supplies with different labels.