well they couldn't very well call it an auto shop now could they?
store i think is an american ism. the brits go to the shops on the high street..american buy stuff in stores.
in the americas, a company --oh say like the north west trading company might have a small warehouse of 'stores' --and a trader might come in and trade in his skins, (which were stored in the building till the spring, when the waterways thawed) for some of the flour (50lb bags) or beans stored there. My father in law remembered his mother buying salt and pickles, and other 'stores' when he was a child.. (pre WWI) she would go down to the city (ie, leave the bronx and go to manhattan) by boat. (he thought me clever for buying 25lb of flour at time (i made all my own bread)
i suspect, in towns and villages in great brittan, most folks didn't buy flour by the 50lb bag.. they would by a weeks worth or two week worth.. 1--they had no room to have pantries, and if they did, why would the fill them with bags (which would be a problem in settled areas, where there was a resident rodent population) of flour. A large household would no doubt have a barrel for flour.. but how many households would that be?
getting back to automobile stores..
does the dealership have a store of cars? (dealer stock?)--
many dealership today do..
would you prefer:
auto vender--a machine vender instead of a vending machine?
auto provisioner?
