Talk:Tag:shop=general

difference between convenience and general

shop=convenience sells food, and shop=general sells nonfood!? -- MasiMaster 14:36, 30 March 2012 (BST)

What's your point? That's not what the page says at the moment. Are you saying that's what the page should say? -- Harry Wood 16:42, 30 March 2012 (BST)

Rigth, i think the page should say, or it's the wrong tag for me (sorry, i'm not a english native speaker). I wonder, because this page is not equal to the shop-overview-page which says: "shop=general: A store that carries a general line of merchandise. (see also shop=convenience if it sells food)." I only try to find the right tag for a shop (which sells nonfood general merchandise). At the moment shop=convenience and shop=general seems verry similar to me (=both sell food). -- MasiMaster 17:12, 1 April 2012 (BST)

As an australian, the two are pretty similar. Both term would would rarely be used in spoken language (rather we just say "I'm going down to the shop"). But this is what I think most australians would understand the meanings as:

• The term "general store" is much older, far older than supermarkets. It basically describes a small shop that always includes basic groceries, and may also include other household goods, some hardware, confectionery, etc.
• The term "convenience store" is much newer (appearing in the 80s, maybe), and comes from american english. It generally describes shops that have tonnes of packaged junk food, newspapers, and some basic groceries (bread and milk). It would most often be applied to chain stores, like 7-11, Lucky 7, etc.

General stores are pretty rare in cities, usually only appearing in small country towns or suburbs that don't have a supermarket. It's unfortunate that mapnik doesn't render theses - They should probably have the same rendering as convenience stores. --Naught101 (talk) 02:14, 26 July 2013 (UTC)