Each student in Tsubomi City is entitled to a set of possessions which is to be refurbished or replaced within reason, or can be replaced or supplemented through purchase. To facilitate this, the Tsubomi School Store was established by the local government, as a place for students to shop and replace or supplement their basic material needs. Each Tsubomi School Store also has at least one bank teller at a kiosk, operating as a branch of the city's banking system.
Because of the large role that school and extracurricular activities hold, these school stores are more like malls in their design, serving as a generic place where students to obtain or replace their needed items at a reasonable price. They are a general purpose location which do not necessarily have the largest selection or wares, but have a practical and wide range of items intended to suit the needs and many wants of their customers. It is not uncommon for other more specialized privately-owned stores and restaurants to locate themselves near a school store due to their importance and traffic, forming a shopping district.
It is also common for a student to sell back items for a bit of extra money, when they are outgrown or no longer needed, to a thrift store area to be resold and reused. Thrift store items are cheaper, but they must still meet standards of quality and profits from them are fed directly into the upkeep of the city itself.
A student who is on the premises of a School Store is observed by cameras and security, and must act to the same standards as if they were at school – lest the same punishments apply.
Part of the reasoning behind the Tsubomi School Store is the fact that it needs to be at an acceptable and easy to access location. Due to this, these stores generally follow the same distance requirements from a dormitory as the schools they serve do. While some stores cater to a specific school, it is often the case that the stores can be located close to multiple dormitories. In these cases the stores are larger and cater to multiple schools and age groups.
Students may also place deliveries to the School Store to have items purchased online shipped to their dormitories, but this comes with a fee which must come from the student's pocket. The only exceptions are if the student is sufficiently ill or possesses a disability or lost limb which would otherwise inhibit travel. The online purchase and delivery option is popular, however, as Tsubomi's delivery system often achieves same day delivery on a regular basis. Deliveries between points within the same ward can take less than six hours once the item is shipped.
The design of the buildings can vary, but the stores tend to be built into two general types. Both split the boys' and girls' sections off of a main area, the different sections often containing stores dedicated to clothing or perhaps gender-specific interests. Some may even use both approaches if they are made large enough to cater to multiple schools. If a boy goes into a girls' area or a girl into a boy's area, it generally means they are purchasing a gift or have some ulterior motive. Monitoring equipment observes such strays for the latter and staff provides help for the former.
The symmetrical school stores tend to be just that, symmetrically designed with the boys' area on one side and the girls' on the other. These areas tend to be located in the outer six wards of the city and often have parking garages or underground parking, but may instead have external parking lots depending on location.
Boys are generally to go to the left for their shopping while girls find their stores on the right. Because of this, the genders tend to call the opposite side of the store the “mirror side”, sometimes playfully treating it as if it were a bizarre other reality where everything is backwards and simultaneously familiar and unfamiliar. Stores with things such as undergarments tend to be the least easily accessible to the other gender, not even visible from the entrance by design.
These two halves are generally joined by a center lobby where the genders mingle, and can access stores with non gender-specific items as well as the bank kiosks. Some even have food courts if they are large enough.
Multi Story school stores are stores which are built upward into different floors rather than out to the sides from the center like the symmetrical type. These tend to be constructed in the two wards in the center of the city, where the ever-present Type 30 City Block design prevents unusually wide buildings and favors multi-story structures.
The first floor serves as the lobby where students find food courts, stores without gender-specific items, and the banking area. This floor also has two sets of elevators and escalators/stairs, intended to take the boy and girl customers to their respective floors or to the parking area underneath the building in the basement area.
The second floor contains the girls' area, containing various stores exclusive to their needs, while the third floor has the boy's area consisting of their respective stores. These floors are mainly clothing and gender specific interests. These floors are often similarly designed, but they can also be mirrored compared to each other, to mimic the feel of their symmetrical counterparts to a degree.
Because of the nature of the mall-like school stores, they are often among the first places students go to be fitted for and obtain their uniforms and for being given other city-mandated possessions. They also serve as common after school meeting places, be they for shopping within the store or for going out into the shopping districts and restaurants which grow around these important establishments. It is also quite common for students to be employed by these school stores.
If a boy goes into the girls' area or vice-versa to shop, they may be perceived as a deviant or as someone shopping for a significant other – it depends on how they conduct themselves and their existing reputation. Some prodding and teasing may result between the “intruder” and the other members of their gender – who want to know just what they were up to. Because of this, it can be seen as a serious and overt step in a boy/girl relationship to buy something as a gift for, or to go shopping with, someone in the “mirror side” of the store. An exception is if the other person is a sibling of the other gender, but misunderstandings still happen.