Weapon Production

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The distribution of weapon production is based on demand, and nearly all demand is created by military organizations, including castle garrisons, army formations, mercenary companies, militant orders, and militias.
Even a tiny thorp has a gold piece limit high enough to cover most weapons, but as the description of a thorp says, goods produced there are intended for local consumption, not manufactured in expectation that nobles or adventurers will happen by and purchase a bastard sword (an exotic weapon costing 35 gp).
Most agricultural thorps, hamlets, and villages will produce no weapons unless there is a local threat, in which case local peasants almost certainly include yeoman. Yeoman, provide feudal military service to the lord in lieu of taxes or labor service, and they would be the militia in any village. If a significant threat warranted an weapons-crafter in a community, he would almost certainly craft a single type of inexpensive weaponry such as a shortspear, longspear, sling, shortbow, handaxe, javelin, or other similar weapon.
Castles, longhouses, and other bases of noble activity will be commonly found with some kind of weapons-crafter, even if it is one described above. Nobles and organizations which maintain significant forces of armed men may employ full time craftsmen to produce arms and armor of the type used by the organization in question.
Towns and cities have militias normally based on pole arms. The larger the community the more variety of arms and armor will be available, but within certain limits. If one imagines the Roman Empire, many communities would produce no arms, and where arms were produced they would conform to the Roman standard. Adventurers and nobles tend to adopt weapons that are exotic, foreign, or expensive because of the frequency of the danger they confront. As such, they normally purchase high quality, masterwork, or exotic weapons from specialty craftsmen with whom they have a relationship. When nobles and adventurers are in the unusual situation of having to replace or acquire weapons or armor away from home, they seek out the specialty craftsmen who make arms and armor for the local nobles and adventurers. Doing otherwise would be considered improvisation.
Real world folklore emphasizes the importance of a quality smith in the manufacture of arms and armor. The desire by a DM to avoid a long journey to the nearest quality smith during game play is better managed by the fortuitous coincidence of a traveling merchant who was traveling between major markets than by allowing fully stocked weapon bazaars in small communities.