A company store is a retail store selling a limited range of food, clothing and daily necessities to employees of a company. It is typical of a company town in a remote area where virtually everyone is employed by one firm, such as a coal mine. In a company town, the housing is owned by the company but there may be independent stores there or nearby.
A company store owned and operated by the U.S. Coal and Coke Company in Lynch, Kentucky, 1946
U.S. Coal and Coke Company Store in 1946, Gary, West Virginia
A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets and recreation facilities.
The town of Siedlung Eisenheim in Oberhausen, Germany
Company town Burg in Bayreuth, Germany
Pullman in the late 19th century
An example of houses at Port Sunlight, England