the.com/department store
a building that convinced you shopping for socks should take four hours.
means a large retailer selling many unrelated categories of goods under one roof, organized into distinct sections.
from emerged in 19th-century paris and london when shops like le bon marche and harrods realized selling everything to everyone, fixed-price and browsable, beat haggling over one product at a time.
first escalatorharrods installed one in 1898, offered brandy to fainters
fixed pricesle bon marche popularized them, ending haggling in 1852
macy's paradestarted 1924 as advertising, outlived the ambition
decline status department stores lost half their sales since 2000
for instance
le bon marche — paris, 1852, widely called the first true department store
harrods — london, 1849, one million square feet, 330 departments
macy's herald square — new york, 1902, once the largest store in the world
selfridges — london, 1909, built shopping as public spectacle, not errand