I'm not clear on some things. What I want to do create a set of stores all being driven off of the same database. Do I need to create a main store and then store_paintings and store_etchings or just the stores store_paintings and store_etchings?

Next ,

I've setup two subdomain names and I put the main zen-cart install in a folder called store. So what would be the URL be for the stores?
www.domainname.com or www.store_paintings.domainname.com?

Please help.