Shopping and services

A shop (BrE) or store (AmE) is a place where things are sold. If you go shopping, you go to look at things in shops and buy things, such as clothes or records, that you do not buy regularly.

People often need to go to shops every day, because they need fresh food or toiletries. We usually buy these products in different types of small shops, like baker's where we buy bread, rolls, buns and cakes, the butcher's where we get pork, beef, fish and poultry, and the greengrocer's where we buy fruits and vegetables. If you need to buy medicine, you can get them at the chemist's in Britain and a drugstore or a pharmacy in the USA. When we need to buy other items such as shoes, books, clothes, records or a couch we go to a shoe shop, bookshop, clothes shop or boutique, and furniture shop respectively.

We buy flowers at the florist's, jewellery at the jeweller's. If you are a DIY person and like doing repairs at home or like working in the garden you go to an ironmonger's to get nails, a hammer, a spade, or whatever else you may need. There are a lots of people who can't imagine their day without reading the newspaper, so they go to a newsagent's, a newsstand or a kiosk to pick up their morning paper, weekly magazine or just chewing gum.

More and more people nowadays prefer shopping in large department stores or at shopping centres. A department store is a very large shop divided into several big sections, each of which sells one type of thing. Shopping in these places has a lot of advantages:customers can get almost everything under one roof and save time. Prices are usually lower in department stores, too, amd there are also special bargians.

Shopping centres often offer additional services, like a post office, banks and insurance and tourist agencies. They also have rastaurants and cafés where you can relax after finishing up your shopping.

Many people prefer to buy their fruits and vegetables at an outside market. Markets are popular because of their special atmosphere. People can walk from stall to stall, touching and tasting products.

People who work in a shop are shop assistants, who serve customers, sell things, managers, who are in charge.

Shopping is a big business nowadays. Merchandisers spend lots of money on advertising, trying to persuade customers that their products is much better than the competitor's. Commercials and advertisements are everywhere, in newspapers and magazines, on TV.