History Main / OnlyShopInTown

* ''CallOfCthulhu'' supplement ''The Asylum and Other Tales'', adventure "Black Devil Mountain". The town of Indian River only has one general store. When the owner found that the recently arrived {{NPC}} Albert Goddard was living on Black Devil Mountain, he refused to sell anything to him and Goddard had to travel seven miles away to the town of Addison for supplies.

* ''TheSimpsons'': The Android's Dungeon seems to be the only shop in Springfield where one can buy comic books. In a bit of {{Irony}}', the one day the ShopKeeper tried to gloat about it to customers threatening to buy comics elsewhere was the day a bigger comic book shop was opening across the street from his.

* Averted in {{Recettear}}. You are the owner of one of the shops in town and with the merchant credential you get discounts on the different shops in the market. Some shops are referenced even though you cannot see them.

* ''{{Minecraft}}'' has an interesting version, where a player on a multiplayer server will often set up a place to barter items with other players (note that this is not specifically provided for by the gameplay). Most servers only have one, because when the niche is filled no one will found another.

* Very common in role-playing games, where each town the hero visits will have exactly one market to buy and sell weapons and armor and such.
** Played absolutely straight in VideoGame/ChronoTrigger.
** Averted in FinalFantasy VI, where you find different shops for different items in different buildings.
** Played around in DragonAge. Some cities get only one merchant but in others you are bound to see many merchants. The dwarven city of Orzammar oozes with them and you get some [[MobileKiosk Dwarven travelers]] joining your trip.
** In the SeikenDensetsu series we get the [[MobileKiosk Cat Merchants]] which bring the item selling to various dangerous situations.
** ''{{Pokemon}}'' puts its own little spin on this: each town only contains one shop, but they are all branches of the Pokémart MegaCorp.
** Averted and played straight by turns in the ''ShiningForce'' games. Each town usually has one shop for weapons and one shop for healing items and power-ups. Occasionally though both will be sold in one store.
** Played around in DemonsSouls. Some maps have more than one merchant but every merchant sells all kind of items (outside the general potion management).
** Averted in {{Recettear}}. You are the owner of one of the shops in town and with the merchant credential you get discounts on the different shops in the market. Some shops are referenced even though you cannot see them.
** {{Lufia}} 2 has a rather major aversion: there is a shop for items, another for spells and another for general items, in different buildings.
** ZigZagged in the first ''VideoGame/UnchartedWaters'': in any big port you will have exactly one shop to trade in common goods, one to trade items and treasures (optional), and one to build and sell ships (each located on the exact same spot on the port's PointAndClickMap). The second game sometimes has several shops of the same kind per port but also plays it relatively straight for the most part.

* In ''FatherTed'' John and Mary (the couple who are always trying to murder each other) run what seems to be the only shop on Craggy Island.
* Oleson's Mercantile is the only store in Walnut Grove in ''LittleHouseOnThePrairie''.

* Drucker's Grocery Store is the only store in Hooterville, yet it services ''two'' shows, ''GreenAcres'' and ''PetticoatJunction''.

* Free Country, USA in ''HomestarRunner'' has Bubs' Concession Stand. This is a small structure [[WeSellEverything where one can buy just about anything]]. Weirdly, no currency ever seems to actually change hands, even when characters "shop" there.

* ''SesameStreet'''s only shop is Hooper's Store, which was run by Mr. Hooper [[TearJerker until he died]].

* TheLegendOfZelda plays it straight: each populated area (for example Castle Town, Goron City and Zora's Domain in OcarinaOfTime) tends to have its own little shop. Interestingly, they have unique shopkeepers (who have their own lines of dialogue), suggesting that Nintendo saw the shop as an important aspect of each such area.
** Some of the games do it a little differently, however. TheWindWaker has unique shops on a few islands, and the whole rest of the world is serviced by Beedle's Shop Ship. Both are examples of this trope.

* Likewise, this tends to occur naturally in the ''AgeOfEmpires'' games with the Market building. This building lets you buy and sell resources and trade with the other civilizations, but due to the specifics of how it works each civilization will only ever need one.

* TheLegendOfZelda plays it straight: each populated area (for example Castle Town, Goron City and Zora's Domain in OcarinaOfTime tends to have its own little shop. Interestingly, they have unique shopkeepers (who have their own lines of dialogue), suggesting that Nintendo saw the shop as an important aspect of each such area.

* It is played straight in the [[AnimatedAdaptation Anime]] DeltoraQuest in an episode where we get Tom's Shop where he literally sells everything they need. Assuming they actually speak for the item. (No {{MacGuffin}}s though, unless this troper is wrong).

Said establishment is usually a small, simple shop (rather than, say, some kind of department store) which nevertheless manages to have a complete monopoly. In other words, it's like a MegaCorp, only scaled down to match the setting it's in. Note that this setting need not be a literal "town" for the trope to be in effect.

Note that an actual, literal "town" is not necessary for this trope: whether the shop is in a forest or a city or a crater on the Moon, as long as there are no others nearby it qualifies.

* The EconomyCast of ''FiremanSam'' includes ShopKeeper Dilys Price, who runs the only shop in Pottypandy.

** Played absolutely straight in ChronoTrigger.

->'''''However no sooner have you moved into your first broom cupboard then the cruel overtones of the game become apparent; slapped with a hefty mortgage, your initial days will be spent performing tasks for Tom Nook the local shop owner, who also appears to have a monopolistic control over the island.'''''

** ZigZagged in the first ''VideoGame/UnchartedWaters'': in any big port you will have exactly one shop to trade in common goods, one to trade items and treasures (optional), and one to build and sell ships (each located on the exact same spot on the port's PointAndClickMap). The second game sometimes has several shops per port but also plays it relatively straight for the most part.

* Occasionally happens in rural areas, where a village will be served by one family-run grocery shop. [[CaptainObvious Not exactly common in cities.]]

* Free Country, USA in ''HomestarRunner'' has Bubs' Concession Stand. This is a small structure [[WeSellEverything where one can buy just about anything]]. Weirdly, no currency ever seems to actually change hands, each when characters "shop" there.

-->-- '''Tom'''

When there's a [[EconomyCast low number of characters]] populating a [[CloseKnitCommunity small, communal setting]], individual characters will often be assigned roles within the community. Of these, a common one is to have the local economy pretty much completely controlled by a ShopKeeper who runs the only establishment where one can buy and sell goods. In other words, TheOnlyShopInTown.

--^-- '''Tom'''

->"''If you do not ask, you do not get. Is that your motto young sir? Well it is mine too.''"\\
-- '''Tom'''

* Drucker's Grocery Store is the only store in Hooterville, yet it services ''two'' shows, ''GreenAcres'' and ''PettycoatJunction''.

WeSellEverything and AnEconomyIsYou appear out of necessity, as the OnlyShopInTown has no other stores to spread the wares around. Can be an HonestJohnsDealership, but isn't always.

WeSellEverything and AnEconomyIsYou appear out of necessity, as the OneShopStop has no other stores to spread the wares around. Can be an HonestJohnsDealership, but isn't always.

** The Trope Name is a play on the [[StockPhrases common advertising phrase]] "your one-stop shop for ''x''", used to mean that the store being advertised has such a variety of ''x'' in stock that you'll never need to go anywhere else. This Trope is similar: since it's a setting (or "Stop") with no other stores, you ''can't'' go anywhere else.