Shop or Shop Owner


If you have the name of a shop plus さん, what possibilities are there for the
translation? I get the sense that it can either be a formal way to speak, or
it can mean the store person.

> 薬屋 = pharmacy  
>  薬屋さん= pharmacy (polite) OR pharmacist

Is this correct? Or does the さん just mean one of the two?




The way I've heard it used can be for either the store itself, or the store's
owner/manager/etc.




The さん doesn't really change the meaning, it can usually mean both the shop or
the person with or without the さん.

The difference is really at the level of connotations. A 本屋さん _could_ be a
more local, smaller shop than the big 本屋, or it could also be that the speaker
likes to add さん to make words sound a bit softer or cuter.

