The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word EMPORIA
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
E
M
P
O
R
I
A
More clues leading to the result EMPORIA
- English politician beginning to organise broadcast about stores
- Excellent guy from east must take minute in shops
- Parking over space at the front, show around shops
- I am pro the termination of some dreadful stores
- Parking in great city around shops
- Unusual pair with me ringing round large retail stores
- Upliftingly broadcast work Gaff markets
- Sovereign dropping sovereignat shops
- Song, musical work the writer picked up in shops
- English politician getting no publicity set up large-scale marketing operations
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "large retail stores" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case large retail stores = emporia.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does EMPORIA mean?
EMPORIA noun- A city or region which is a major trading centre; also, a place within a city for commerce and trading; a marketplace.
- A shop that offers a wide variety of goods for sale; a department store; (with a descriptive word) a shop specializing in particular goods.
- A business set up to enable foreign traders to engage in commerce in a country; a factory (now the more common term).
- (by extension) The brain.