Editing Shopping (section)

==History==
{{Further|Retail#History}}
===Antiquity===
[[File:Roma-mercati di traiano2.jpg|thumb|Remains of marketplace and retail shops at Trajan's Forum in Rome]]
In antiquity, [[marketplace]]s and [[fair]]s were established to facilitate the exchange of goods and services. People would shop for goods at a regular market in nearby towns. However, the transient nature of stalls and stall-holders meant the consumers needed to make careful inspection of goods prior to purchase. In [[ancient Greece]], the [[agora]] served as a marketplace where merchants kept stalls or shops to sell their goods.<ref>Engen, Darel. “The Economy of Ancient Greece”. EH.Net Encyclopedia, edited by Robert Whaples, July 31, 2004. URL http://eh.net/encyclopedia/the-economy-of-ancient-greece/</ref>

[[Ancient Rome]] utilized a similar marketplace known as the [[forum (Roman)|forum]]. Rome had two forums; the [[Roman forum|Forum Romanum]] and [[Trajan's Forum]]. [[Trajan's Market]] at Trajan's forum, built around 100-110CE,  was a vast expanse, comprising multiple buildings with [[taberna]]e that served as retail shops, situated on four levels.<ref name="Coleman, P. 2006, p. 28">Coleman, P., ''Shopping Environments,'' Elsevier, Oxford, 2006, p. 28</ref>  The Roman forum was arguably the earliest example of a permanent retail shopfront.<ref name="Coleman, P. 2006, p. 28"/>  In the Roman world, the central market primarily served the local peasantry. Those who lived on the great estates were sufficiently attractive for merchants to call directly at their farm-gates, obviating their need to attend local markets.<ref>Bintliff, J., "Going to Market in Antiquity," In ''Stuttgarter Kolloquium zur Historischen Geographie des Altertums,'' Eckart Olshausen and Holger Sonnabend (eds), Stuttgart, Franz Steiner, 2002, p. 229</ref>

[[Shopping list]]s are known to have been used by Romans. One such list was discovered near [[Hadrian's wall]] dated back to 75–125 [[Common Era|CE]] and written for a soldier.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s253805.htm|title=Roman shopping list deciphered|publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]|date=2001-03-05|access-date=2007-09-23 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080303020753/http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s253805.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2008-03-03}}</ref>

===Middle Ages===
[[File:Fotothek df tg 0007616 Medizin ^ Apotheke.jpg|thumb|left|An early 17th-century shop, with customers being served through an opening onto the street]]

Archaeological evidence suggests that the British engaged in minimal shopping in the early [[Middle Ages]]. Instead, they provided for their basic needs through subsistence farming practices and a system of localised personal exchanges.<ref>Schofield, J. and Vince, A.G., ''Medieval Towns: The Archaeology of British Towns in Their European Setting,''A&C Black, 2003, p.151</ref> However, by the late Middle Ages, consumers turned to markets for the purchase of fresh produce, meat and fish and the periodic fairs where non-perishables and [[luxury goods]] could be obtained.<ref>Dye, C., ''Everyday Life in Medieval England,''  A & C Black, 2001, p.257</ref> Women were responsible for everyday household purchases, but most of their purchasing was of a mundane nature. For the main part, shopping was seen as a chore rather than a pleasure.<ref>By Jane Whittle, Elizabeth Griffiths ''Consumption and Gender in the Early Seventeenth-Century Household: The World of Alice Le Strange,'' Oxford University Press, 2012, pp 9- 11</ref>

Relatively few permanent shops were to be found outside the most populous cities. Instead customers walked into the tradesman's workshops where they discussed purchasing options directly with tradesmen.<ref>Thrupp, S.L., ''The Merchant Class of Medieval London, 1300–1500,'' pp. 7–8</ref> Itinerant vendors such as costermongers, hucksters and peddlers operated alongside markets, providing the convenience of home delivery to households, and especially to geographically isolated communities.<ref>Jones, P.T.A., "Redressing Reform Narratives: Victorian London's Street Markets and the Informal Supply Lines of Urban Modernity," ''The London Journal'', Vol 41, No. 1, 2006, pp 64–65</ref>

In the more populous European cities, a small number of shops were beginning to emerge by the 13th century. Specialist retailers such as mercers and haberdashers were known to exist in London, while grocers sold "miscellaneous small wares as well as spices and medicines." However, these shops were primitive. As late as the 16th century, London's shops were described as little more than "rude booths."<ref>Knight, C., ''London,'' Vol. 5, 1841, Knight & Co, London, p. 132</ref>

The medieval shopper's experience was very different from that of the contemporary shopper. Interiors were dark and shoppers had relatively few opportunities to inspect the merchandise prior to consumption. Glazed windows in retail environments, were virtually unknown during the medieval period. Goods were rarely out on display; instead retailers kept the merchandise at the rear of the store and would only bring out items on request. The service counter was virtually unknown and instead, many stores had openings onto the street from which they served customers.<ref>Cox, N.C. and Dannehl, K., ''Perceptions of Retailing in Early Modern England,'' Aldershot, Hampshire, Ashgate, 2007, p. 155</ref>

In Britain, medieval attitudes to retailing and shopping were negative. Retailers were no better than hucksters, because they simply resold goods, by buying cheaper and selling dearer, without adding value of national accounts. Added to this were concerns about the self-interest of retailers and some of their more unethical practices. Attitudes to spending on luxury goods also attracted criticism, since it involved importing goods which did little to stimulate national accounts, and interfered with the growth of worthy local manufacturers.<ref>Cox, N., "'Beggary of the Nation': Moral, Economic and Political Attitudes to the Retail Sector in the Early Modern Period", in: John Benson and Laura Ugolini, ''A Nation of Shopkeepers: Five Centuries of British Retailing'', London,  I.B. Taurus, 2003, pp 25-51</ref>

===Shopping for pleasure===
The modern phenomenon of shopping for pleasure is closely linked to the emergence of a middle class in the 17th and 18th-century Europe. As standards of living improved in the 17th century, consumers from a broad range of social backgrounds began to purchase goods that were in excess of basic necessities. An emergent middle class or [[bourgeoisie]] stimulated demand for luxury goods and began to purchase a wider range of luxury goods and imported goods, including: Indian [[cotton]] and calico; silk, [[tea]] and porcelain from China, spices from India and South-East Asia and tobacco, sugar, rum and coffee from the New World.<ref>Braudel, F. and Reynold, S., ''The Wheels of Commerce: Civilization and Capitalism, 15th to 18th Century,'' Berkeley, CA, University of California Press, 1992</ref> The act of shopping came to be seen as a pleasurable pastime or form of entertainment.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

By the 17th-century, produce markets gradually gave way to shops and shopping centres; which changed the consumer's shopping experience.<ref>Cox, N.C. and Dannehl, K., ''Perceptions of Retailing in Early Modern England,'' Aldershot, Hampshire, Ashgate, 2007, p,. 129</ref> The New Exchange, opened in 1609 by [[Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury|Robert Cecil]] in the [[Strand, London|Strand]] was one such example of a planned shopping centre. Shops started to become important as places for Londoners to meet and socialise and became popular destinations alongside the theatre. [[English Restoration|Restoration]] London also saw the growth of luxury buildings as advertisements for social position with speculative architects like [[Nicholas Barbon]] and [[Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex|Lionel Cranfield]].
[[File:The Fable of the Bees (1705).jpg|thumb|right|[[Bernard Mandeville]]'s work ''[[The Fable of the Bees]]'', which justified conspicuous consumption.]]
Much pamphleteering of the time was devoted to justifying conspicuous consumption and private vice for luxury goods for the greater public good. This then scandalous line of thought caused great controversy with the publication of [[Bernard Mandeville]]'s influential work ''[[Fable of the Bees]]'' in 1714, in which he argued that a country's prosperity ultimately lay in the self-interest of the consumer.<ref>Peck, Linda, "Consuming Splendor: Society and Culture in Seventeenth-Century England", Cambridge Press, 2005; Gunor, B.,  "A Research Regarding the Importance of Bernard Mandeville's Article: The Fable of Bees," ''Journal of Art and Language'', Vol. 5, pp 521–536, 10.7816/idil-05-22-01</ref>

These trends gathered momentum in the 18th century, as rising prosperity and social mobility increased the number of people with disposable income for consumption. Important shifts included the marketing of goods for individuals as opposed to items for the household, and the new status of goods as [[status symbol]]s, related to changes in fashion and desired for aesthetic appeal, as opposed to just their utility. The [[pottery]] inventor and [[entrepreneur]], [[Josiah Wedgewood]], pioneered the use of marketing techniques to influence and manipulate the direction of the prevailing tastes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.quarc.de/fileadmin/downloads/Coming%20to%20live%20in%20a%20consumer%20society%20%28chapter%202%29.pdf|title=Coming to live in a consumer society|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130810222240/http://www.quarc.de/fileadmin/downloads/Coming%20to%20live%20in%20a%20consumer%20society%20%28chapter%202%29.pdf|archive-date=2013-08-10}}</ref> One of his preferred sales techniques was to stage expansive showcases of wares in this private residences or in a rented hall, to which he invited the upper classes.<ref>McKendrick, N., Brewer, J. and Plumb . J.H., ''The Birth of a Consumer Society: The Commercialization of Eighteenth Century England,'' London, 1982.</ref>

As the 18th-century progressed, a wide variety of goods and manufactures were steadily made available for the urban middle and upper classes. This growth in consumption led to the rise of 'shopping' - a proliferation of retail shops selling particular goods and the acceptance of shopping as a cultural activity in its own right. Specific streets and districts became devoted to retail, including the [[Strand, London|Strand]] and [[Piccadilly]] in London.<ref name="BLibrary">{{cite web|url=http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/georgians/material/materialculture.html|title=Material Culture: Getting and Spending|publisher=British Library}}</ref>
[[File:Royal Arcade, Sydney, 1892 from Photographs of Sydney and New South Wales, ca.1892-1900 New South Wales Government Printer.jpg|thumb|Royal Arcade, Sydney, 1892]]
The rise of window shopping as a recreational activity accompanied the use of glass windows in retail shop-fronts. By the late eighteenth century, grand shopping arcades began to emerge across Britain, Europe and in the Antipodes in what became known as the "arcade era."<ref>Lemoine, B., ''Les Passages Couverts'', Paris: Délégation à l'action artistique de la ville de Paris [AAVP], 1990. {{ISBN|9782905118219}}.</ref> Typically, these arcades had a roof constructed of glass to allow for natural light and to reduce the need for candles or electric lighting. Inside the arcade, individual stores were fitted with long glass exterior windows which allowed the emerging middle-classes to window shop and indulge in fantasies, even when they may not have been able to afford the high retail prices.<ref>Byrne-Paquet, L., ''The Urge to Splurge: A Social History of Shopping,''ECW Press, Toronto, Canada, pp. 90–93</ref>

Designed to attract the genteel middle class, retailers sold luxury goods at relatively high prices. However, prices were never a deterrent, as these new arcades came to be the place to shop and to be seen. Arcades offered shoppers the promise of an enclosed space away from the chaos of daily street life; a place shoppers could socialise and spend their leisure time. As thousands of glass covered arcades spread across Europe, they became grander and more ornately decorated. By the mid nineteenth century, promenading in these arcades became a popular pastime for the emerging middle classes.<ref>Woodward, R.B., [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/11/travel/11culture.html "Making a Pilgrimage to Cathedrals of Commerce"], ''New York Times,'' 11 March 2007,</ref>

In Europe, the Palais-Royal, which opened in 1784, became one of the earliest examples of the new style of shopping arcade, frequented by both the aristocracy and the middle classes. It developed a reputation as being a site of sophisticated conversation, revolving around the salons, cafés, and bookshops, but also became a place frequented by off-duty soldiers and was a favourite haunt of prostitutes, many of whom rented apartments in the building.<ref>Mitchell, I., ''Tradition and Innovation in English Retailing, 1700 to 1850,'' Routledge, Oxon, p. 140</ref>  In London, one of the first to use [[display window]]s in shops was retailer, [[Francis Place]], who experimented with this new retailing method at his tailoring establishment in [[Charing Cross]], where he fitted the shop-front with large plate glass windows. Although this was condemned by many, he defended his practice in his memoirs, claiming that he:
:sold from the window more goods...than paid journeymen's wages and the expenses of housekeeping.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2TEEaCrPiWsC&q=Robertson%27s+Book+of+Firsts:+Who+Did+What+For+the+First+Time|title=Robertson's Book of Firsts: Who Did What for the First Time|author=Patrick Robertson
|year=2011|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|access-date=2013-02-07|isbn=9781608197385}}</ref>

Retailers designed attractive shop fronts to entice patronage, using bright lights, advertisements and attractively arranged goods. The goods on offer were in a constant state of change, due to the frenetic change in [[fashion]]s. A foreign visitor commented that [[London]] was "a world of gold and silver plate, then pearls and gems shedding their dazzling lustre, home manufactures of the most exquisite taste, an ocean of rings, watches, chains, bracelets, perfumes, ready-dresses, ribbons, lace, bonnets, and fruits from all the zones of the habitable world".<ref name="BLibrary" />
[[File:Au Bon Marché (vue générale - gravure).jpg|thumb|240px|left|{{lang|fr|[[Le Bon Marché]]|italic=no}}, founded in Paris, offered a wide variety of goods in "departments" inside one building, from 1851.]]

===Evolution of stores: from arcades to department stores===
In the second half of the 19th-century, shops transitioned from 'single-function' shops selling one type of good, to the [[department store]] where a large variety of goods were sold. As economic growth, fueled by the [[Industrial Revolution]] at the turn of the 19th-century, steadily expanded, the affluent bourgeois middle-class grew in size and wealth. This urbanized social group was the catalyst for the emergence of the retail revolution of the period.

The term, "department store" originated in the United States. In 19th century England, these stores were known as emporia or warehouse shops.<ref>Koot, G.M., [https://www1.umassd.edu/ir/resources/consumption/shopping.pdf "Shops and Shopping in Britain: from market stalls to chain stores"], University of Dartmouth, 2011,</ref> A number of major department stores opened across the US, Britain and Europe from the mid nineteenth century including; Harrod's of London in 1834; Kendall's in Manchester in 1836; [[Selfridges]] of London in 1909; Macy's of New York in 1858; [[Bloomingdale's]] in 1861; [[Sak's Fifth Avenue|Sak's]] in 1867; [[J.C. Penney]] in 1902; {{lang|fr|[[Le Bon Marché]]|italic=no}} of France in 1852 and [[Galeries Lafayette]] of France in 1905.

The first reliably dated department store to be established, was Harding, Howell & Co, which opened in 1796 on [[Pall Mall, London|Pall Mall]], [[London]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hibiscus-sinensis.com/regency/shoppingmalls.htm|title=Regency Shopping}}</ref> This venture was described as being a public retail establishment offering a wide range of [[consumer good]]s in different departments. This pioneering shop was closed down in 1820 when the [[business partnership]] was dissolved. Department stores were established on a large scale from the 1840s and 50s, in France, the United Kingdom and the US. French retailer, Le Bon Marche, is an example of a department store that has survived into current times  Originally founded in 1838 as a lace and haberdashery store, it was revamped mid-century and opened as a department store in 1852.<ref name="culture.gouv">Jacques Marseille, [http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/actualites/celebrations2002/bonmarche.htm "Naissance des grands magasins: Le Bon Marché"],  Ministry of Culture of France, (in French)</ref>

Many of the early department stores were more than just a retail emporium; rather they were venues where shoppers could spend their leisure time and be entertained. Some department stores offered reading rooms, art galleries and concerts. Most department stores had tea-rooms or dining rooms and offered treatment areas where ladies could indulge in a manicure. The fashion show, which originated in the US in around 1907, became a staple feature event for many department stores and celebrity appearances were also used to great effect. Themed events featured wares from foreign shores, exposing shoppers to the exotic cultures of the Orient and Middle-East.<ref>Howard Moss, M., ''Shopping as an Entertainment Experience,'' Plymouth, Lexington Books, pp. 35–39</ref>