chain store
16
2.4
- noun
- /tʃeɪn stɔr/
- Chain stores did not offer credit either, but they did gain some popularity among black consumers.
Examples
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Each day brings more chain stores and fewer mom-and-pop places.
Blog text (9) -
If we went to a big chain store like Walmart, of course it would have been cheaper.
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I worked at one regional chain store, off and on, for years.
Blog text (13) -
Or if you can get some chain stores, it just saves you a ton of effort.
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Because you're in the chain store business.
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That's how chain stores work.
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The second-lowest was a regional chain store in a nearby town.
Blog text (34) -
Booksellers suffered, too, with the large chain stores reporting significant losses of revenue.
Academic text (2009) -
For one, I really recommend CB2—a chain store—but it is a fantastic resource.
Blog text (24) -
In the South Congress area, there are very few chain stores and restaurants.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A shop where people buy goods like food or clothes
30
1.0
A shop that sells goods in small amounts directly to people
How Widespread
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'chain' (a network/group of outlets) + 'store' (a shop): a store that belongs to a chain. This noun–noun compound follows a common, cross-linguistic pattern of modification and should be immediately understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent meanings.
Etymology
Chain store comes from the image of shops linked together like a chain, with each store acting as one link that looks and sells the same things. That's why chain store means 'a group of shops owned by the same company'.