History Main / OnlyShopInTown

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, the [[TitleDrop Only Shop In Town]].

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 an actual, literal "town" for this trope to be in effect: 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.

In RealLife, WeSellEverything and AnEconomyIsYou appear out of necessity in small towns and isolated villages as there may only be enough customers to support one store. In some company towns, such as mining camps, the firm may run the company store to sell food and supplies to workers. Since the company store has a monopoly, expect high prices. Sometimes, the government may grant a monopoly to one company. Often found in a ThrivingGhostTown. Can be an HonestJohnsDealership, but isn't always.

In RealLife, WeSellEverything and AnEconomyIsYou appear out of necessity in small towns and isolated villages as there may only be enoughcustomers to support one store. In some company towns, such as mining camps, the firm may run the company store to sell food and supplies to workers. Since the company store has a monopoly, expect high prices. Often found in a ThrivingGhostTown. Can be an HonestJohnsDealership, but isn't always.

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

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, the [[TitleDrop Only Shop In Town]].

* The EconomyCast of ''WesternAnimation/FiremanSam'' includes ShopKeeper Dilys Price, who runs the only shop in Pontypandy. Probably a justified example, at least in the original stop-motion series, as the village appears to be pretty small. You can also sometimes see characters holding carrier bags from a BlandNameProduct version of Tesco, roughly the British equivalent of Wal-Mart.

* ''VideoGame/IWasATeenageExocolonist'', starting from the second Vertumnalia Festival, the Strato crew opens the Supply Depot, the first and only shop of the colony. You can spend your Kudos there for special cards.

* ''VideoGame/IWasATeenageExocolonist'', starting from the second Vertumnalia Festival, the Strato crew opens the Supply Depot, the first shop of the colony. You can spend your Kudos there for special cards.

* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda''
** Each populated area (for example Castle Town, Goron City, and Zora's Domain) in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' 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. ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' 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.
** In ''The Wind Waker,'' the [[{{Jerkass}} owner of the Bomb Shop on Windfall Island]] takes pride in the fact that he's the only resident of the [[OceanPunk Great Sea]] in the bomb-selling business, and uses it to set ridiculously sky-high prices for his bombs (10,000 rupees for a group of 10 bombs, for example). Though later on, [[spoiler:he [[TookALevelInKindness takes a level in kindness]] when [[PirateGirl Tetra]] and her group of {{Pirate}}s, not willing to pay his prices, bind and gag him, and steal his wares from him instead. He starts charging far more reasonable prices after that.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{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.
* Likewise, this tends to occur naturally in the ''VideoGame/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.

* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy''
** The series has always been pretty good about averting this trope. Sometimes, weapons and armor or both types of magic might be run out of the same building, but typically each type of supplies gets its own brick-and-mortar store in each town.
** Averted in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', where you find different shops for different items in different buildings.

* In the ''VideoGame/WorldOfMana'' series we get the [[MobileKiosk Cat Merchants]] which bring the item selling to various dangerous situations.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''
** The series puts its own little spin on this: each town only contains one shop, but they are all branches of the Pokémart MegaCorp.
** Somewhat played straight in later installments: The Pokémart is now a part of each Pokémon Center, with a small shop in either the front or the back.
* Averted and played straight by turns in the ''VideoGame/ShiningSeries''. 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 ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls''. Some maps have more than one merchant but every merchant sells all kinds of items (outside the general potion management).
* Averted in ''VideoGame/RecettearAnItemShopsTale''. 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.
* ''VideoGame/LufiaIIRiseOfTheSinistrals'' 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 [[VideoGame/UnchartedWatersNewHorizons second game]] sometimes has several shops of the same kind per port but also plays it relatively straight for the most part.

* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series, this is common for many smaller towns and villages. They often have just a single general trader. Averted in larger towns and cities, which have many more shops offering a wider variety of often specialized goods.
* The traditional "only shop in town" trope only appeared in the first ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts'' and it was a commodity at that. Most of the time you brought your stuff from an unnamed "tight-lipped merchant" that showed up in places. ''Covenant'' got rid of shops altogether and replaced them with the [[IntrepidMerchant Magimel]] [[ThoseTwoGuys Brothers]] who appeared in every location, including dungeons, regardless of anything and too much to [[OnlySaneMan Yuri]]'s disbelief. Only Gerard returned in ''From the New World'' and along with his boyfriend Bunghen, took pretty much the same role.

[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/AnimalCrossing https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/OnlyStore_Map_5069.jpg]]]]

* Averted and played straight by turns in the ''Franchise/ShiningSeries''. 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.

* A common problem in {{company town|s}}, where all local amenities, including the store, are owned by a single company and are able to sell their goods at an inflated price.

** 2nd Edition TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms boxed set, booklet "Shadowdale". The town of Shadowdale has only one store: Weregund the Trader's general supply store. It carries a variety of supplies but does not compete with the local smithy, weaver, or woodworking shops.

* A fair number of villages in the UK will have a Post Office (which doubles as a small supermarket), and typically a Pub and a Church.

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 an an actual, literal "town" for this trope to be in effect: 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.

* ''Series/{{JAG}}'': Often it makes you wonder why Harm, Mac et al. at JAG Headquarters gets to act as trial and defense counsel from an wide array of cases from all around the Navy and the Marines and why they're not handled by the command staff judge advocates out in the field.

*** Issue #75 adventure "Non-Prophet Organization". The small town of Kellorville only has one store: Malabee's Provisions. They sell supplies for fishing, farming and sheep-shearing, along with most other items in the AD&D Player's Handbook.
** 2nd Edition TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms boxed set, booklet "Shadowdale". The town of Shadowdale has only one store: Weregund the Trader's general supply store. It carries a variety of supplies, but does not compete with the local smithy, weaver or woodworking shops.

** ''The Fungi from Yuggoth'' adventure "Mountains of the Moon". The village of Huancucho in the Andes mountains of Peru has only one place to buy things: a small trading post which carries tools, canned food, and other items.

* Averted in ''VideoGame/{{Drakensang}}'': Each of Ferdok's areas has several merchants selling different stuff, from armors, to weapons, to clothes, to potions, to magic ingredients to useful items and even useless crap too. The sequel even has to vendors (one for weapons, the other for armors) across the same small square, who'll often snark at each other when they're not doing business with you.

* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series, this is common for many smaller towns and villages. They often have just a single general trader. Averted in larger towns and cities, who have many more shops offering a wider variety of often specialized goods.
* The traditional "only shop in town" trope only appeared in the first ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts'' and it was a commodity at that. Most of the time you brought your stuff from an unnamed "tight-lipped merchant" that showed up in places. ''Covenant'' got ride of shops altogether and replaced them with the [[IntrepidMerchant Magimel]] [[ThoseTwoGuys Brothers]] who appeared in every location, including dungeons, regardless of anything and too much to [[OnlySaneMan Yuri]]'s disbelief. Only Gerard returned in ''From the New World'' and along his boyfriend Bunghen, took pretty much the same role.

* A common problem in [[Main/CompanyTown company towns]], where all local amenities, including the store, are owned by a single company, and are able to sell their goods at an inflated price.

** 2nd Edition TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms boxed set, booklet "Shadowdale". The town of Shadowdale has only one store: Weregund the Trader's general supply store. It carries a variety of supplies but does not compete with the local smithy, weaver or woodworking shops.

** ''Magazine/{{Dungeon}}'' magazine

* ''Series/{{Kingdom}}'': Justified in that Market Shipborough is a rather small town; there's probably another law firm in town, but just the one. Or maybe two. But no more.

[[folder:Film]]
* In most of the ''{{Film/Tremors}}'' movies, Perfection, Nevada is served by Walter Chang's Market.

A sister trope to OnlyLawFirmInTown.

* Wrangler Jane's trading post (and post office) on ''F Troop'' qualifies as this, though O'Rourke and Agarn get a lot of their goods from the Indians.

* ''Series/TheRedGreenshow'': Humphrey's Everything Store appears to be the only shop in Possum Lake.