Editing Retail (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of retail}}
[[File:Mercati di Traiano - Roma.jpg|thumb|Marketplace at Trajan's Forum, the earliest known example of permanent retail shopfronts]] [[File:2013-01-02 Grand Bazaar, Istanbul 04.jpg|thumb|Grand Bazaar, Istanbul (interior). Established in 1455, it is thought to be the oldest continuously operating covered market.|alt=]]Retail markets have existed since ancient times. Archaeological evidence for trade, probably involving barter systems, dates back more than 10,000 years. As civilizations grew, barter was replaced with retail trade involving coinage. Selling and buying are thought to have emerged in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) in around the 7th-millennium BCE.<ref>Jones, Brian D.G.; Shaw, Eric H. (2006). "A History of Marketing Thought", ''Handbook of Marketing.'' Weitz, Barton A.; Wensley, Robin (eds), Sage, p. 41, {{ISBN|1-4129-2120-1}}.</ref> In [[ancient Greece]], markets operated within the [[agora]], an open space where, on market days, goods were displayed on mats or temporary stalls.<ref>Thompson, D.B., ''An Ancient Shopping Center: The Athenian Agora'', ASCSA, 1993   pp. 19–21</ref> In [[Roman Empire|ancient Rome]], trade took place in the [[Forum (Roman)|forum]].<ref>McGeough, K.M., ''The Romans: New Perspectives'', ABC-CLIO, 2004, pp. 105–06</ref> The Roman forum was arguably the earliest example of a permanent retail shop-front.<ref>Coleman, P., ''Shopping Environments'', Elsevier, Oxford, 2006, p. 28</ref>

Research from July 2008 suggests that China exhibited a rich history of early retail systems.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Moore |first1=Karl |last2=Reid |first2=Susan |date=2008 |title=The Birth of Brand: 4000 Years of Branding History |url=https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/10169/ |journal=Business History |volume=50 |issue=4 |pages=419–432 |doi=10.1080/00076790802106299 |via=Munich Personal RePEc Archive}}</ref> From as early as 200 BCE, Chinese packaging and branding were used to signal family, place names and product quality, and the use of government imposed product branding was used between 600 and 900 CE.<ref>Eckhardt, G.M. and Bengtsson. A. "A Brief History of Branding in China", ''Journal of Macromarketing'', Vol, 30, no. 3, 2010, pp. 210–21</ref> Eckhart and Bengtsson have argued that during the Song dynasty (960–1127), Chinese society developed a consumerist culture, where a high level of consumption was attainable for a wide variety of ordinary consumers rather than just the elite.<ref>Eckhardt, G.M. and Bengtsson. A. "A Brief History of Branding in China", ''Journal of Macromarketing'', Vol, 30, no. 3, 2010, p. 212</ref>

In [[England in the Middle Ages|Medieval England]] and [[Europe]], relatively few permanent shops were to be found; 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> In the more populous cities, a small number of shops were beginning to emerge by the 13th century.<ref>Pevsner, N. and Hubbard, E., ''The Buildings of England: Cheshire'' Penguin, 1978, p. 170</ref> Outside the major cities, most consumable purchases were made through markets or fairs.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2003 |title=Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs in England and Wales to 1516 |url=https://archives.history.ac.uk/gazetteer/gazweb2.html |url-status=live |journal=[[List and Index Society]] |issue=32 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113050534/https://archives.history.ac.uk/gazetteer/gazweb2.html |archive-date=2020-01-13 |via=[[Institute of Historical Research]]}}</ref> Market-places appear to have emerged independently outside Europe. The [[Grand Bazaar, Istanbul|Grand Bazaar]] in [[Istanbul]] is often cited as the world's oldest continuously operating market; its construction began in 1455. The Spanish conquistadors wrote glowingly of markets in the Americas. In the 15th century, the [[Mexica]] ([[Aztec]]) market of [[Tlatelolco (altepetl)|Tlatelolco]] was the largest in all the [[Americas]].<ref>{{cite book|editor=Rebecca M. Seaman|title=Conflict in the Early Americas: An Encyclopedia of the Spanish Empire's ...|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IXKjAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA375|page=375|isbn=978-1-59884-777-2|year=2013|publisher=Abc-Clio }}</ref>[[File:Ana Marie Wirth Apotheke.jpg|thumb|The retail service counter was an innovation of the 18th century.|alt=]]

By the 17th century, permanent shops with more regular trading hours were beginning to supplant markets and fairs as the main retail outlet. Provincial shopkeepers were active in almost every English market town.<ref>Cox, N.C. and Dannehl, K., ''Perceptions of Retailing in Early Modern England'', Aldershot, Hampshire, Ashgate, 2007, p,. 129</ref> As the number of shops grew, they underwent a transformation. The trappings of a modern shop, which had been entirely absent from the 16th- and early 17th-century store, gradually made way for store interiors and shopfronts that are more familiar to modern shoppers. Prior to the 18th century, the typical retail store had no counter, display cases, chairs, mirrors, changing rooms, etc. However, the opportunity for the customer to browse merchandise, touch and feel products began to be available, with retail innovations from the late 17th and early 18th centuries.<ref>Cox, N.C. and Dannehl, K., ''Perceptions of Retailing in Early Modern England'', Aldershot, Hampshire, Ashgate, 2007, pp. 153–54</ref>

[[File:Galeries de bois (ancien camp des Tartares), au Palais-Royal, 1825.jpg|thumb|Galeries de bois at au Palais-Royal, one of the earliest shopping arcades in Europe|alt=]]

By the late 18th century, grand shopping arcades began to emerge across Europe and in the Antipodes. A shopping arcade refers to a multiple-vendor space, operating under a covered roof. Typically, the roof was constructed of glass to allow for natural light and to reduce the need for candles or electric lighting. Some of the earliest examples of shopping arcade appeared in Paris, due to its lack of pavement for pedestrians.<ref>Conlin, J., ''Tales of Two Cities: Paris, London and the Birth of the Modern City'', Atlantic Books, 2013, Chapter 2</ref> While the arcades were the province of the bourgeoisie, a new type of retail venture emerged to serve the needs of the working poor. [[John Stuart Mill]] wrote about the rise of the [[consumers' co-operative|co-operative]] retail store, which he witnessed first-hand in the mid-19th century.<ref>Mill, J.S., ''Principles of a Political Economy with some of their Applications to Social Philosophy'', 7th ed., London, Longman, 1909, Section IV.7.53</ref>[[File:AA446b copy.jpeg|thumb|Department stores, such as [[Le Bon Marché]] of France, appeared from the mid-19th century.]]

The modern era of retailing is defined as the period from the industrial revolution to the 21st century.<ref>''Reshaping Retail: Why Technology is Transforming the Industry and How to Win in the New Consumer Dr''</ref> In major cities, the [[department store]] emerged in the mid- to late 19th century, and permanently reshaped shopping habits, and redefined concepts of service and luxury.<ref>{{cite web|last = Koot|first = G.M.|title = Shops and Shopping in Britain: from market stalls to chain stores|publisher = University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth|date = 2011|url = https://www1.umassd.edu/ir/resources/consumption/shopping.pdf|access-date = 29 May 2017|archive-date = 6 August 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190806075623/https://www1.umassd.edu/ir/resources/consumption/shopping.pdf|url-status = dead}}</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.<ref>Howard Moss, M., ''Shopping as an Entertainment Experience'', Plymouth, Lexington Books, pp. 35–39</ref> Retail, using mail order, came of age during the mid-19th century. Although catalogue sales had been used since the 15th century, this method of retailing was confined to a few industries such as the sale of books and seeds. However, improvements in transport and postal services led several entrepreneurs on either side of the Atlantic to experiment with catalogue sales.<ref>Goldstein. J., ''101 Amazing Facts about Wales'', Andrews, UK, 2013</ref>

In the post-war period, an American architect, [[Victor Gruen]] developed a concept for a shopping mall; a planned, self-contained shopping complex complete with an indoor plaza, statues, planting schemes, piped music, and car-parking. Gruen's vision was to create a shopping atmosphere where people felt so comfortable, they would spend more time in the environment, thereby enhancing opportunities for purchasing. The first of these malls opened at [[Northland Center (Michigan)|Northland Mall]] near Detroit in 1954.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Gladwell |first=Malcolm |date=2004-03-07 |title=The Terrazzo Jungle |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/03/15/the-terrazzo-jungle |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171022121708/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/03/15/the-terrazzo-jungle |archive-date=2017-10-22 |access-date=2024-06-19 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |language=en |issn=0028-792X}}</ref> Throughout the twentieth century, a trend towards larger store footprints became discernible. The average size of a U.S. supermarket grew from {{Convert|31000|sqft|m2}} square feet in 1991 to {{Convert|44000|sqft|m2}} square feet in 2000.<ref>Byrne-Paquet, L., ''The Urge to Splurge: A Social History of Shopping'', ECW Press, Toronto, Canada, p. 83</ref> By the end of the twentieth century, stores were using labels such as "mega-stores" and "warehouse" stores to reflect their growing size.<ref>{{cite web|last = Johanson|first = Simon|title = Bunnings Shifts Focus as it Upsizes Store Network|work = The Age|date = 2 June 2015|url = https://www.theage.com.au/business/bunnings-shifts-focus-as-it-upsizes-store-network-20150601-ghdvs4.html|access-date = 19 December 2018|archive-date = 20 December 2018|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181220230658/https://www.theage.com.au/business/bunnings-shifts-focus-as-it-upsizes-store-network-20150601-ghdvs4.html|url-status = live}}</ref> The upward trend of increasing retail space was not consistent across nations and led in the early 21st century to a 2-fold difference in square footage per capita between the United States and Europe.<ref>{{Cite news|title=The Death of Retail is Greatly Exaggerated |last= Wahba|first=Phil|date=15 June 2017|work=Fortune|page=34|type=Print magazine}}</ref>

As the 21st century takes shape, some indications suggest that large retail stores have come under increasing pressure from [[E-commerce|online sales models]] and that reductions in store size are evident.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wetherell |first=Sam |date=2014-04-08 |title=The Shopping Mall's Socialist Pre-History |url=https://jacobin.com/2014/04/the-last-shopping-mall |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220625013456/https://jacobin.com/2014/04/the-last-shopping-mall |archive-date=2022-06-25 |access-date=2024-06-19 |work=[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]] |language=en |issn=2158-2602}}</ref> Under such competition and other issues such as business debt,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Townsend|first1=Matt|last2=Surane|first2=Jenny|last3=Orr|first3=Emma|last4=Cannon|first4=Christopher|title=America's 'Retail Apocalypse' Is Really Just Beginning|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2017-retail-debt/|access-date=15 January 2018|publisher=Bloomberg|date=8 November 2017|archive-date=18 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180118160424/https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2017-retail-debt/|url-status=live}}</ref> there has been a noted business disruption called the [[retail apocalypse]] in recent years which several retail businesses, especially in North America, are sharply reducing their number of stores, or going out of business entirely.