Here in NYC is a violation of the Health Dept code to bring an animal into any store that sells food (and restaurants, of course), unless it's a seeing eye dog. I've brought Sophie into non-food stores without a problem, but I hold her and never put her down on the floor. If I have the carrier with me, I put her in. The dry cleaner I use doesn't allow dogs in the store (personal preference, I guess), but when he saw Sophie (and I didn't have the carrier), he let me in because he thought she was so cute. So I guess cuteness can sometimes open doors!
