They both work well, but there are times when one fits a certain term better.
Brad
I just re-thought my Post after reading your Post.
You're right.
There are times that each term can be better.
I just looked up DrugStore.com on Estibot = $69,000
then I loked up DrugShop.com - only $2000.
and the term DrugStore definitely sounds better.
So, as for the meaning - Same thing.
As for interchangeable in the domain world - I guess not.
Funny though...
"Store" is 5 letters long, and "Shop" is 4 letters long so Shop should be the more desirable of the 2...
Oh, and for kicks I checked this,
Shop.com = 2.8 million
Store.com = 1 million.
My experiment - I used 5 keywords with both shop and store and had all 10 appraised.
Keywords = Online, Domain, Gun, Food, and Shoe
Store is better 60 % of the time (Online, Food, and Shoe)
Shop is better 40% of the time (Gun and Domain)
I still dont know why, but there it is.
Store is better 20% more of the times than Shop based on my exact Case Study...lol