Dante is way cool, but wont work over distances and public internet (packet loss and jitter).

I would go with an encoder, and then decoders at each store. Check out Barix audio for low cost solutions.

+1 for Barix.

Erik is right in that Dante does have some limitations for distance, how much distance though, I've never tried. Certainly have some units in the field that are about 300'-400' apart over fiber.

I can also vouch for Barix, as I've used the In/Exstreamers to encode a Sirius XM media player and distribute that to multiple buildings in a campus.