Retail Tropes

A list of retail tropes, or elements common to retail. This list is inspired by the TVTropes website.


 * Convenience Store Names: Many convenience store chains are named after their (sometimes historical) operating hours or identifying factors such as size and fast shopping. They may also be accented with spelling practices in the vein of googie-era characteristics. Such examples include 7-Eleven, Tinee Giant, QuikTrip, and Speedway.
 * Fancy Alcohol Aisles: In locations where alcohol is sold within supermarkets, such aisles or departments are often given high attention to detail. These departments are often lined with wooden accents or special artwork. This has especially become more common in 2010s decor packages.
 * Fancy HBC Aisles: Health & beauty, or HBC departments, also have varying decor package and experimental elements. Those include overhead fixtures, varied LED lighting, and wooden/carpet flooring.
 * Marginalized Names: Policies where varying brands or properties under the ownership of a conglomerate are given unified names or bylines. Examples include Westfield malls ("Westfield Annapolis") and Wyndham hotel brands ("Days Inn by Wyndham"). This philosophy also extends to other identifying retail brands: Simon uses this technique across multiple facets of their brand, having a single logo/marketing style for all of their properties and placing all mall websites under their simon.com domain.
 * Sign Flipping: When a tenant vacates a shopping center, the proprietor(s) may occasionally invert the direction of the signage piece entirely. This is done to not give off an effect that a store may still be open, while continuing to hide away the lighting fixtures inside the sign.
 * Rebuilding - Stores redoing their structures to match their own designs.
 * Pickupization (better name?) - the process of retailers adjusting their store designs, or removing some features to accomodate online shopping features or automization.