New storefronts met with mockery at first throughout (4,4,2,5)
I believe the answer is:
from stem to stern
'throughout' is the definition.
(phrase meaning from front to back on a ship)
'new storefronts met with mockery at first' is the wordplay.
'new' indicates an anagram.
'with' indicates putting letters inside.
'at first' indicates taking the first letters.
The first letter of 'mockery' is 'm'.
'storefronts'+'met'='storefrontsmet'
'storefrontsmet' is an anagram of 'frostemtostern'.
'frostemtostern' enclosing 'm' is 'FROM STEM TO STERN'.
(Another definition for from stem to stern that I've seen is " Throughout".)