“There’s different shopping in Paris than there is at a bazaar in Istanbul, but they’re all wonderful”.
Iris Apfel
SHOPPING.
It seems to be in our DNA; an instinctive activity. We shop for necessities, gifts for holidays and special events, social interaction, to experience new materials in architecture, fabrics, home goods and technology and to witness and be part of cultural developments. Whether or not scientists ever identify a “shopping gene,” humans have been gathering to exchange goods for a very long time. So how did we arrive at department stores, malls and e-commerce?
It’s a long journey from bazaars, trade routes, market squares and fairs to merchants (primarily cloth and food purveyors) establishing small shops as rural cultures coalesced into towns and cities during the the Industrial Revolution, which began in 1760 in Great Britain. Appropriately, then, one of the first stores that can be called a department store opened in 1796 in London. Called the Grand Fashion Magazine, it had four departments— furs, clothing, jewelry and hats. Perhaps not impressive by the standards to come, but a peek into the future of what would explode onto the city scene in every metropolitan area around the world.
The Industrial Revolution impacted all areas of human endeavors reshaping society and culture and department stores were an integral part of these changes. The founders of these department stores (fascinating subjects in their own right) were impressive in their vision and ability to capitalize and shape rapid developments in technology and urban planning. Some of the innovations department stores introduced include:
in-store models, restaurants, beauty parlors, escalators and elevators, fixed prices, refunds and exchange policies, credit systems, and wedding registries. Perhaps more importantly department stores were instrumental in changing societal norms around women. They provided respectable jobs and therefore independence for women as well as a safe place for them to socialize free from male chaperons — changes that would continue to reverberate well into the 20th and even 21st century.
These changes were often introduced by stores first established in the 1800’s to early 1900’s by iconic names still contributing to the social zeitgeist today. A partial list includes Lord & Taylor (1826, New York), David Jones (1838, Sydney), Harrod’s (1849, London), Bon Marché (1853, Paris), Macy’s (1858, New York), Saks Fifth Avenue (1858, New York), Nordstrom’s (1901, Seattle), Neiman-Marcus (1907, Dallas), Selfridges (1909, London), and even the GUM department store in Moscow, established in 1921!
As urban planning morphed into suburban planning, department stores became the anchor attractions of the shopping malls serving those areas. Today’s e-commerce is a continuation of this evolution in retail with department stores integrating the new borderless technological environment created by Amazon and others. Department stores today offer a wide array of new products, new services, new career paths, special events and a place for social interaction as they did in their pioneering days over 100 years ago. A testament to the vision, creativity and continuing influence of their original social roles. Shopping options for today’s consumers are nearly limitless regardless of where you live. You can find your favorite store on a general digital shopping platform, its own website or a physical location. Thanks to the adoption of technology, personal shoppers have tools that can navigate and simplify the sometimes overwhelming choices for you and keep you true to your Purely Personal style. Call for your appointment with Ramona today!
