set up shop

set up shop

1. Literally, to open or establish a business in a particular location. News of the major retail store setting up shop in the center of town has many local business owners worried.
2. By extension, to establish oneself in a particular location for a prolonged period of time. When I was a freelancer, I used to set up shop in my local café everyday, usually in the same seat! There are a few regulars who come in nearly every afternoon and set up shop at the bar until closing time.
See also: set, shop, up
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

set up shop somewhere

to establish one's place of work somewhere. Mary set up shop in a small office building on Oak Street. The police officer said, "You can't set up shop right here on the sidewalk!"
See also: set, shop, somewhere, up
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

set up shop

Open a business, start a profession, as in Now that you've got your degree, where do you plan to set up shop? This idiom was first recorded about 1570.
See also: set, shop, up
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

set up shop

If someone sets up shop somewhere, they start a business there. No-one in his or her right mind would set up shop in this city today.
See also: set, shop, up
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

ˌset up ˈshop

(especially British English) start a business (in a particular place): He worked as a writer for several years, then set up shop as a small publisher. The young lawyer set up shop in a new office in the centre of town. OPPOSITE: shut up shop
See also: set, shop, up
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

set up shop

To establish one's business operations.
See also: set, shop, up
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
See also:
  • literally
  • balance the books
  • (the) survival of the fittest
  • beat the daylights out of
  • beat the hell out of
  • beat the living daylights out of
  • beat the living daylights out of someone
  • beat the tar out of
  • beat the tar out of (one)
  • beat/scare the daylights out of somebody