From Main Street to Mall: The Rise and Fall of the American Department Store (American Business, Politics, and Society)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.30 (875 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0812247280 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 304 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-04-25 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
But after World War II, suburban growth and the ubiquity of automobiles shifted the seat of economic prosperity to malls and shopping centers. She draws on a wealth of primary source evidence to demonstrate how the decisions of consumers, government policy makers, and department store industry leaders culminated in today's Wal-Mart world. Penney. The geography of American retail has changed dramatically since the first luxurious department stores sprang up in nineteenth-century cities. Richly illustrated with archival photographs of the nation's beloved downtown business centers, From Main Street to Mall shows that department stores were more than just places to shop.. With careful attention to small-town stores as
How our shopping choices mirror our society The history of American shopping is a history of American society. Dr. Howard charts our changing relationship with each other by looking at our changing relationship with our department stores. Great research David Arbogast This is a well-researched book about the decline of the American department store. As one with fond memories of the department store during its final heyday, it is bittersweet to read this book, knowing that the great institution which served to bind Americans together will no longer be restored to its former glory now that we purchase our goods conveniently on websites such as Amazon.com.. Worthwhile Alice Horton-Kelley "From Main Stream to Mall" is a very informative book about the history of retail in the United States. While most media reports regarding the changes in shopping habits of Americans focus mostly on the eCommerce of online shopping, this book includes the significant effect of the big box store on the changes in our shopping methods. It explains and details the evolution from the mom and pop shop to the department store era, and proceeds forward to our present online/big box situation. It adds a great deal of understanding to our current shopping environment.
She is author of Brides, Inc.: American Weddings and the Business of Tradition, also available from the University of Pennsylvania Press, and editor of the journal History of Retailing and Consumption. . Vicki Howard is Associate Professor of History at Hartwick College
A must-read for researchers of American consumer culture and for anyone who loves to shop."—Regina Lee Blaszczyk, author of The Color Revolution"From Main Street to Mall offers sharp analysis of American retailing from a new vantage point, advancing our understanding of the department store beyond Macy's and Marshall Field's. A significant contribution."—Susan Strasser, author of Satisfaction Guaranteed: The Making of the American Mass Market. "Combining deep historical research and vivid description, Vicki Howard lucidly explains how, when, and why the department store came to dominate American commercial culture and how the democratization of consumption, changing public policy, and the forces of globalization contributed to its transformation and demise. Historians of consumer culture have always known of smaller stores in smaller cities, but nobod