History Main / SecretShop

* ''KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' has a merchant on Korriban who sells some of the best items in the game, but you have to talk to his associate on Tatooine before you can get a recommendation. Unfortunately, a bug stops him from turning up if you have reached a certain stage in Juhani's side-quest.
** You also find the abandoned space station orbiting Yavin 4 only because Davik left the coordinates in the navcomputer. The "proprietor" is an elderly Rodian and former slave to Exar Kun's empire that salvages artifacts and materials for weapons and armor from the abandoned wreckage planetside. His clients are mostly Exchange bigwigs (like Davik was) or the Trandoshan pirates that were passing through his system.

* Some ''FireEmblem'' games have secret shops, which are slightly-different-looking tiles of floor in out-of-the-way locations, all run by the unofficial SeriesMascot Anna. You require a member's card to get in, which can only be obtained by stealing one from enemies, and the prices can be downright exorbitant. Discussed in ''Shadow Dragon'', as quoted above - Jake, Anna's boyfriend, admits that business isn't looking so good for them ''because'' they're a secret shop.

* ''TheUnusuals'': the squad comes across a "Murder Store," where you can buy everything you need to kill someone. They decide to run it themselves as a sting operation.

->'''Jake:''' ''"The entrance is disguised so you can’t find it. [...] And they don’t let anybody in without a VIP card. So don’t expect to waltz through the door by accident."''
->'''Marth:''' ''"But... how do they stay in business?"''
->'''Jake:''' ''"Who knows! Last I heard, they were desperate for customers."''
->'''Marth:''' ''"Then maybe they should reopen as a “tell your friends” shop..."''
-->-- ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAkaneia Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon]]''

* ''VideoGame/TacticsOgreLetUsClingTogether'' has Deneb's shop. The shop isn't too hard to unlock, but it does move to a different city every day.

But then there is that one shop, whose proprietor takes lack of advertising UpToEleven: this shop's defining feature is how hard it is to just to get in. Maybe it's just ludicrously hard to find or get to, maybe you need a keycard or passcode, or maybe only the king is allowed to shop there naked during a full moon while holding a child's teddy bear in one hand and the SwordOfPlotAdvancement in the other. Maybe some combination thereof. Either way, expect getting in to this place to be harder than getting to your local department store.

* ''{{Series/Dollhouse}}''

* The Merchants [=MacDoig=] in the ''LonelyWerewolfGirl'' books operate like this, if you don't know where they are then you don't need to buy anything from them.

* The question of, "who makes every character's costume" was answered in ''Amazing Spider-Man #502'', which introduced Leo Zelinsky. A tailor from Brooklyn, he doesn't do much to keep his business secret except what small business owners like himself always rely on - using only word of mouth to advertise - but he caters to just about ''every'' super-human in the Marvel Universe, heroes and villains alike. (Why does he see nothing wrong with this? As he explains, "If Doctor Octopus goes into a deli and orders a cheese sandwich and the clerk gives it to him, does that make the clerk a bad man? Everyone has to eat, everyone needs clothes.") To avoid conflicts between the heroes and villains, his shop is open for the first group on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, the second on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. He also maintains a strict confidentiality policy for all of his clients, only breaking it once in order to prevent a murder. Otherwise, his clients have included such big names as ComicBooks/TheAvengers, ComicBooks/{{XMen}}, and Doctor Doom.

* The shops in the Thieves' Guild in VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim. At first, there's only your fence (plus a bartender) selling stuff, who must stay secret by necessity to avoid being persecuted by the few honourable city guards left in Riften. When you first show up, both the bar and the Thieves' Guild itself are both down on their failing luck. Once (if) you restore the Thieves' Guild to its former glory, more shops show up. From the player's point-of-view, they're secret because you have to unlock them by finishing an entire questline plus a lot of sidequests. From everyone else's point-of-view, they're secret because the Thieves' Guild isn't exactly on Main Street...

* The question of, "who makes every character's costume" was answered in ''Amazing Spider-Man #502'', which introduced Leo Zelinsky. A tailor from Brooklyn, he doesn't do much to keep his business secret except what small business owners like himself always rely on - using only word of mouth to advertise - but he caters to just about ''every'' super-human in the Marvel Universe, heroes and villains alike. (Why does he see nothing wrong with this? As he explains, "If Doctor Octopus goes into a deli and orders a cheese sandwich and the clerk gives it to him, does that make the clerk a bad man? Everyone has to eat, everyone needs clothes.) To avoid conflicts between the heroes and villains, his shop is open for the first group on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, the second on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. He also maintains a strict confidentiality policy for all of his clients, only breaking it once in order to prevent a murder. Otherwise, his clients have included such big names as ComicBooks/TheAvengers, ComicBooks/{{XMen}}, and Doctor Doom.

* ''{{Dota 2}}'' and ''DefenseOfTheAncientsAllStars'': There is literally a place called the "Secret Shop", although it's not actually secret to the players. It sells items which aren't available from the normal shop. It's located close to the river running through the middle of the map, and by visiting it you run the risk of being found and killed by the enemy team.

* The question of, "who makes every character's costume" was answered in ''Amazing Spider-Man #502'', which introduced Leo Zelinsky. A tailor from Brooklyn, he doesn't do much to keep his business secret except what small business owners always rely on - using only word of mouth to advertise - but he caters to just about ''every'' super-human in the Marvel Universe, heroes and villains alive. (Why does he see nothing wrong with this? As he explains, "If Doctor Octopus goes into a deli and orders a cheese sandwich and the clerk gives it to him, does that make the clerk a bad man? everyone has to eat, everyone needs clothes.) To avoid conflicts between the heroes and villains, his shop is open for the first group on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, the second on Tuesday and Thursday. He also maintains a strict confidentiality policy for all of his clients, only breaking it once in order to prevent a murder. Otherwise, his clients have included such big names as ComicBooks/TheAvengers, ComicBooks/{{XMen}}, and Doctor Doom.

* ''Film/MenInBlack'' had Jeeb's shop for special "imported merchandise"
-->'''Kay''': "You sold a reverberating carbonizer with mutate capacity to an unlicensed cephalopoid, Jeebs, you piece of shit..."

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* ''TacticsOgreTheKnightOfLodis'' has a secret shop in one of the early towns, which you can access when you recruit [[spoiler:Deneb]].

* The question of, "who makes every character's costume" was answered in ''Amazing Spider-Man #502'', which introduced Leo Zelinsky. A tailor from Brooklyn, he doesn't do much to keep his business secret except what small business owners always rely on - using only word of mouth to advertise - but he caters to just about ''every'' super-human in the Marvel Universe, heroes and villains alive. (Why does he see nothing wrong with this? As he explains, "If Doctor Octopus goes into a deli and orders a cheese sandwich and the clerk gives it to him, does that make the clerk a bad man? everyone has to eat, everyone needs clothes.) To avoid conflicts between the heroes and villains, his shop is open for the first group on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, the second on Tuesday and Thursday. He also maintains a strict confidentiality policy for all of his clients, only breaking it once in order to prevent a murder. Otherwise, his clients have included such big names as ComicBooks/TheAvengers, ComicBooks/{{XMen}}, and SelfDemonstrating/DoctorDoom.

* The question of, "who makes every character's costume" was answered in ''Amazing Spider-Man #502'', which introduced Leo Zelinsky, a tailor from Brooklyn who caters to ''every'' super-human in the Marvel Universe, heroes and villains alive. (Why does he see nothing wrong with this? As he explains, "If Doctor Octopus goes into a deli and orders a cheese sandwich and the clerk gives it to him, does that make the clerk a bad man? everyone has to eat, everyone needs clothes.) To avoid conflicts between the heroes and villains, his shop is open for the first group on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, the second on Tuesday and Thursday. He also maintains a strict confidentiality policy for all of his clients, only breaking it once in order to prevent a murder. Otherwise, his clients have included such big names as ComicBooks/TheAvengers, ComicBooks/{{XMen}}, and SelfDemonstrating/DoctorDoom.

* ''MapleStory'' has a shop on the far side of Leafre, which you can't get into until you complete a high-level quest.

* ''RiverCityRansom'' has Merlin's Mystery Shop, which is hidden in the Armstrong Thru-Way Tunnel. It sells expensive fantasy items with names like "Excaliber" and "Zeus Wand" that provide enormous stat boosts.
* ''{{Runescape}}'' has several of these (usually involving the completion of a quest), but the prime example is the Ape Atoll; you can't shop anywhere on the island until you're done two (moderately long) quests, you will be attacked if you show up in the vicinity without turning yourself into a monkey of some kind, and you can't communicate with the monkeys unless you're wearing a monkeyspeak amulet. Also, the island itself is right on the southwest edge of the world, and can only be reached by gnome hang glider. The most commonly-bought item on the island is a Dragon Scimitar, which is a good weapon for medium-high level fighters, and cannot be purchased (from {{NPC}}s) anywhere else.

* Crazy Redd's store in ''AnimalCrossing:City Folk''. You need to have one of your neighbors mail an invitation to you, and in order to do that, you need to randomly talk to them. If you don't have an invite, he'll casually shoo you away, and drops the not-so-subtle hint of how you're supposed to get in. Other than that, it's actually pretty easy to find. Only place with an iron-looking door.

* Wong's Lost and Found Emporium in the ''Series/TheTwilghtZone1985'' episode of that title is a combination of this and TheLittleShopThatWasntThereYesterday.

* Wong's Lost and Found Emporium in the ''Series/TheTwlightZone1985'' episode of that title is a combination of this and TheLittleShopThatWasntThereYesterday.

* In ''XXXHolic'', the shop can only be seen by those who need it, and sells wishes for something of equal value.
* The eponymous ''PetShopOfHorrors'' doubles as TheLittleShopThatWasntThereYesterday.
* According to ''ReadOrDie'' there's a secret book shop in the Jinbocho area of Tokyo, full of ultra-rare books. Reaching it requires inputting a secret code in an elevator, as well as the use of a card key (though in the TV series, Anita manages it by just picking the lock on the elevator).

* * ''WesternAnimation/ClassOf3000'' had a gift shop where you had to pass through an ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' style DeathCourse in order to enter. It turns out they did most of their business on-line.