Flipping great Hitchcock film about top spy in shops (7)

I believe the answer is:

emporia

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'shops' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'flipping great hitchcock film about top spy' is the wordplay.
'flipping' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'great' becomes 'AI' (resembles Am, old-fashioned term meaning very good).
'hitchcock film' becomes 'Rope' (m948 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock).
'about' indicates putting letters inside.
'top spy' becomes 'm' ('M' is James Bond's boss. I am not sure about the 'top' bit.).
'ai'+'rope'='airope'
'airope' enclosing 'm' is 'airopme'.
'airopme' in reverse letter order is 'EMPORIA'.

'in' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for emporia that I've seen before include "Large retail outlets" , "Large retail shops" , "Trading centres" , "Large stores" , "big stores" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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