Ten Sleep Mercantile, also known as Ten Sleep Hardware, is an example of a typical small-town general store.

The stores around the square were of the cereal-box architecture favored by small-town stores throughout the Midwest, but with gingerbread cornices and other cheery embellishments.

"Basically, your small-town store can suddenly have an international presence in a cost-effective manner," Mr. Zeeff said.

Many of those small-town stores have disappeared, but the practical-joke business is thriving.

Similar cardboard cutouts had performed well in some small-town stores in Great Britain, reportedly leading to a 70 percent shrinkage decline.

That's because small-town stores have always been as much about personal relationships as about shopping.

About 40 percent of the film was shot at the Mill Pond store, a traditional small-town general store in Stafford.

Bridgton has the normal complement of small-town stores; for a mega-outlet center you have to drive over to North Conway, N.H., 20 miles to the west.

The poor design wouldn't be such a big deal if I.B.M. were just some small-town store that created a home page as a lark.

This is like a small-town store in a big city.