Wine flowed and live music played as people browsed the half-empty shelves and reminisced about happy times.

She gestured to a half-empty shelf, where three bottles sat.

Their half-empty shelves portray the strange imbalances of Russia's post-Soviet economy.

The fireplace came through into a kind of television room or den with track lighting aimed down at half-empty shelves.

The counter divided the room in half, with the clerks and the tiers of half-empty shelves on one side, the shuffling lines of people on the other.

She ges- tured to a half-empty shelf, where three bottles sat.

"They came to stores with half-empty shelves, and ran into lines of nervous and angry Muscovites," he said.

Its timeworn counter is often unattended, and half-empty shelves display dusty canned foods.

Balsamon leaned back in his chair until it teetered on its hind legs, reached over his shoulder to pluck a volume from a half-empty shelf.

The food store in town is a study in half-empty shelves.