In today's uncertain economy small businesses

have to use every marketing gimmick possible.  

These clever shop owners have taken their store

fronts to an entirely new advertising level.

 A music shop in Atlanta looks like a 90's boom box.

That's either the largest cell phone in the

world or it's an electronics store in Japan.

Metro Babel

At first glance I thought this shop in Quebec City sold

camping gear.  Turns out it's a florist.  Who knew?

So this is a florist, right?

Source

Nope.  It's a shoe store.

These shoe stores in northern London make

it pretty clear what they're selling:

Link

An adidas shoe store in - what else? - a big shoe box.

I give up.  What does a larger-than-life

zipper have to do with espresso?

I'm guessing they sell bikes.

Finally!  I've found a purse big enough:

Trend Hunter

Actually, the purse is concealing construction work

and renovation of the Dior store in Manhattan.

City officials in the English town of Dungannon took

a clever approach to improving empty, derelict shops:

Link

They painted virtual shops on the fronts of the buildings.  Great idea!

I have no idea what they're selling

but I love the paint job.

And sometimes the name of the shop

is advertising enough:

Link

I see what you did there, Dr. Optometrist man.

And my favorite:

Forget the Empire State Building, Broadway, the Metropolitan

Museum of Modern Art.  Next time I'm in New York City

I'm going to Thriffany's.