See Also

Department store

A department store is a retail Retailing

Retailing consists of the sale [i] of goods/merchandise for personal or household consumption [i] ... 

 establishment which specializes in selling a wide range of products without a single predominant merchandise line. Department stores usually sell products including apparel Clothing

Clothing is defined, in its broadest sense, as coverings for the torso and limbs as well as coverings fo... 

, furniture Furniture

Furniture is the collective term [i] for the movable objects which may support the human body ... 

, appliances, electronics Electronics

The field of electronics comprises the study and use of systems that operate by controlling the flow of ... 

, and additionally select other lines of products such as paint Paint

Paint is the general term for a family of products used to protect and add color [i] to an object or sur ... 

, hardware, toiletries, cosmetics Cosmetics

*Permanent makeup [i] *Testing cosmetics on animals [i] ... 

, photographic equipment, jewelry Jewellery

Jewellery is literally any piece of fine material used to adorn oneself.... 

, toy Toy

A toy is something used in play [i] by child [i]ren, adult [i]s or pets [i]. ... 

s, and sporting goods. Certain department stores are further classified as discount department stores. Discount department stores commonly have central customer checkout Point of sale

POS or PoS is an abbreviation [i] for point of sale.... 

 areas, generally in the front area of the store.

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Timeline

1851   Macy's Macy's

Macy's is a chain of American [i] department store [i]s with its flagship [i] store in Herald Square [i] ... 

 department store founded by R.H. Macy.

1910   First air flight for the purpose of delivering commercial  freight occurs between Dayton, Ohio Dayton, Ohio

Dayton is a city in southwestern Ohio [i], United States [i] with a population of 166,179 . ... 

 and Columbus, Ohio Columbus, Ohio

Columbus is the capital [i] of the U.S. state [i] of Ohio [i]. ... 

 by the Wright Brothers Wright brothers

The Wright brothers, Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright , are generally credited with making the first co... 

 and department store owner Max Moorehouse.



Encyclopedia



A department store is a retail Retailing

Retailing consists of the sale [i] of goods/merchandise for personal or household consumption [i] ... 

 establishment which specializes in selling a wide range of products without a single predominant merchandise line. Department stores usually sell products including apparel Clothing

Clothing is defined, in its broadest sense, as coverings for the torso and limbs as well as coverings fo... 

, furniture Furniture

Furniture is the collective term [i] for the movable objects which may support the human body ... 

, appliances, electronics Electronics

The field of electronics comprises the study and use of systems that operate by controlling the flow of ... 

, and additionally select other lines of products such as paint Paint

Paint is the general term for a family of products used to protect and add color [i] to an object or sur ... 

, hardware, toiletries, cosmetics Cosmetics

*Permanent makeup [i]
  • Testing cosmetics on animals [i] ... 

    , photographic equipment, jewelry Jewellery

    Jewellery is literally any piece of fine material used to adorn oneself.... 

    , toy Toy

    A toy is something used in play [i] by child [i]ren, adult [i]s or pets [i]. ... 

    s, and sporting goods. Certain department stores are further classified as discount department stores. Discount department stores commonly have central customer checkout Point of sale

    POS or PoS is an abbreviation [i] for point of sale.... 

     areas, generally in the front area of the store. Department stores are usually part of a retail chain Chain store

    Chain stores are a range of retail [i] outlets which share a brand [i] and central management, usually w ... 

     of many stores situated around a country or several countries.

History



Hudson's Bay Company Hudson's Bay Company

The Hudson's Bay Company is the oldest commercial corporation [i] in North America [i] and is one of th ... 

 in Canada Canada

Canada is the world's second-largest [i] country by total area, occupying most ... 

 was the first store to include departments; however, by modern standards, it would not be considered a department store because of the size and range of items that were stocked. The same may be said about Gostiny Dvor Gostiny Dvor

Gostinyi dvor is a historic Russian [i] term for an indoor market [i], or shopping centre [i]... 

 in St Petersburg Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg listen is a city located in northwestern Russia [i] on t ... 

, which opened in 1785 and should probably be regarded as one of the first purposely-built shopping mall Shopping mall

A shopping mall, shopping center, or shopping arcade is a building or set of buildings that ... 

s in the world, as it consisted of more than 100 shops covering an area of over 53,000 m².

The first true department store was founded by Aristide Boucicaut in Paris Paris

native_name = Ville de Paris
|common_name = Paris
... 

. He founded Bon Marché in 1838, and by 1852 it offered a wide variety of goods in "departments" inside one building. Goods were sold at fixed prices, with guarantees allowing exchanges and refunds. By the end of the 19th century 19th century

The 19th century lasted from 1801 [i] through 1900 [i] in the Gregorian calendar [i].
... 

, Georges Dufayel, a French credit merchant, had served up to three million customers and was affiliated with La Samaritaine La Samaritaine

La Samaritaine is a large department store [i] in Paris [i], France [i]. ... 

, a large French department store established in 1870 by a former Bon Marché executive.

The oldest independent department store in the world, until it was recently purchased by House of Fraser House of Fraser

House of Fraser is a British [i] department store [i] group with around 60 stores across ... 

, was Jenners Jenners

[i]
... 

 in Edinburgh, Scotland, which has maintained its original position on Edinburgh's Princes Street Princes Street

Princes Street is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh [i], Scotland [i], and its main sh ... 

 since 1838.

As Bon Marché evolved into a fully fledged department store in the early 1850s, Delany's New Mart opened in 1853 in Dublin Dublin

Dublin is the capital [i] and the largest city of the Republic of Ireland [i] , located near the midpoi... 

, Ireland Ireland

Ireland is the third largest [i] island [i] in Europe [i]. ... 

 on Sackville Street . What made Delany's different from most department stores of its time was its purpose-built nature; unlike others it had not evolved gradually from a smaller shop on site. Constructed to a lavish standard on the city's principal street, it was designed to rival the biggest and best in Europe. Acquired by the Clery family in the late 19th century, both the store and Imperial Hotel located in its upper floors were completely destroyed in the 1916 Easter Rising Easter Rising

The Easter Rising was a rebellion staged in Ireland [i] in Easter [i] Week, 1916 [i].
... 

. However the store reopened in 1922, this time across numerous floors, as the famous Clerys Clerys

Clerys is a department store on O'Connell Street [i] in Dublin [i], Republic of Ireland [i].
... 

 department store that stands today, housed in a striking modern neoclassical building based on Selfridges Selfridges

Selfridges is a chain of department store [i]s in the United Kingdom [i]. ... 

 of London.

Another claimant to the title of "World's first department store" is Bainbridges in Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne

!colspan=2 align=center bgcolor="#ff9999"|City of Newcastle upon Tyne
... 

, founded in 1838 as a drapers and fashion shop but on record as collecting its takings by department as early as 1849. The ledger from that year still survives in the archives of the John Lewis Partnership who bought the store in 1952, and retained its original name until 2002 when the store was rebranded as John Lewis Newcastle.

In New York City New York City

[i] in the [[United States]... 

 in 1846, Alexander Turney Stewart established the "Marble Palace" on the east-Broadway, between Chambers and Reade streets. He offered European Europe

Europe is one of the seven traditional continent [i]s of the Earth [i]. ... 

 retail merchandise at fixed prices on a variety of dry goods, and advertised a policy of providing "free entrance" to all potential customers. Though it was clad in white marble to look like a Renaissance Renaissance

In the traditional view, the Renaissance was understood as a historical age in Europe [i] that follo ... 

 palazzo, the building's cast iron Cast iron

Cast iron usually refers to grey cast iron, but can mean any of a group of iron [i]-based alloys contain... 

 construction permitted large plate glass Plate Glass

Sorry, no overview for this topic 

 windows. In 1862 Stewart built a department store on a full city block at Broadway and 9th Street, opposite Grace Church, with eight floors and nineteen departments of dress goods and furnishing materials, carpets, glass and china, toys and sports equipment, ranged around a central glass-covered court. Within a couple of decades, New York New York

New York is a state [i] in the northeastern [i] United States [i]. ... 

's retail center had moved uptown, forming a stretch of retail shopping from "Marble Palace" that was called the "Ladies' Mile". In 1858 Rowland Hussey Macy Rowland Hussey Macy

Rowland Hussey Macy was an American [i] businessman who founded the department store chain ... 

 founded Macy's Macy's

Macy's is a chain of American [i] department store [i]s with its flagship [i] store in Herald Square [i] ... 

 as a dry goods store. Benjamin Altman and Lord & Taylor Lord & Taylor

Lord & Taylor, based in New York [i], New York [i], is the oldest department store [i] chain i... 

 soon competed with Stewart as New York's first department stores, later followed by "McCreary's" and, in Brooklyn Brooklyn

Brooklyn is one of the five boroughs [i] of New York City [i]. ... 

, "Abraham & Straus" . ISBN 0-679-40064-8.
  • Spang, Rebecca L. The Invention of the Restaurant: Paris and Modern Gastronomic Culture. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2000. 325 p.
  • Whitaker, Jan. Service and Style: How the American Department Store Fashioned the Middle Class. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2006. ISBN 0-312-32635-1.

External links

  • — Long detailed paper describing the history of the department store