{"id":370,"date":"2015-11-08T19:47:00","date_gmt":"2015-11-08T19:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/2015\/11\/08\/holiday-shopping-5\/"},"modified":"2015-11-08T19:47:00","modified_gmt":"2015-11-08T19:47:00","slug":"holiday-shopping-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/2015\/11\/holiday-shopping-5.html","title":{"rendered":"Holiday Shopping"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\nGiving the Gifts<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nThe holidays are rapidly approaching.  Have you finished your holiday shopping? <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nActually, I quite like shopping, whether for the holiday
\nseason, or just a leisure activity.  <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nThe process of consumer buying has changed drastically over time.  Initially, people grew their own food, made
\ntheir own clothes and were generally independent.  What goods and services they could not provide for the family
\nwere obtained through trade and barter. 
\nAs populations formed small towns and villages, a merchant class was
\nborn.  Each town had a \u201chigh street\u201d
\nwhere small shops sold their products. 
\nGreen grocers, drapers, pharmacies lined the streets and shoppers
\n(usually women) could purchase their goods, socialize, and stop for a cup of
\ntea.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nLarger cities, too, had multiple specialty shops selling
\nhome goods, clothing, foodstuffs.  
\nUsually these shops tended to be in proximity so that buyers could go
\nfrom shop to shop with ease.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nIn the mid 1800\u2019s a new establishment was born: the
\nDepartment Store.  Actually, this was a
\ncollection of small retail shops under one roof, not the mega store we think of
\ntoday.  In some countries, especially in
\nAsia this is still the case.  Each shop
\nwithin the building may be privately owned but for the convenience of the public
\nthey are in one location, much like our indoor malls.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nThe first department store, The Bon Marche was opened in
\nParis in 1852.  Of course such stores
\nwere soon to be found in other large European cities. The sheer size of the
\nbuilding, the enormous selection of items for sale and the lavish d\u00e9cor made
\nthis shopping experience hugely successful. 
\nWhile the women in small towns could enjoy a few hours on the \u201chigh
\nstreet\u201d, the shoppers in large cities could spend an entire day.  The store provided amenities such as
\n\u201crefresh rooms\u201d, cafes, fashion shows. 
\nPublic transportation was available for the surrounding suburban
\nneighborhoods.  Another important
\nfeature of these businesses was the freedom to \u201cwindow shop\u201d.  That is, see the items for sale, and actually,
\nin some cases touch and inspect them. 
\nPrior custom was counter service where a staff employee would assist the
\ncustomer.  There was an underlying
\nobligation to actually buy what was presented.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nPopular department stores became landmarks for their cities,
\nfor instance Harrod\u2019s, the largest such shop in the UK, and Macy\u2019s (originally
\nR.H. Macy & Co.) The flagship store on Herald Square in NYC has over
\n1.1million sq. feet of retail space.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nThe pleasure factor of such a shopping experience has been
\ndramatized in such productions as The Paradise, a BBC & Masterrpiece
\nadaptation of Emile Zola\u2019s work \u201cAu Bonheur des Dames\u201d set in NE England (not
\nin original Paris) and Mr. Selfridge. 
\nHarry Selfridge founded Selfridges on Oxford Street, London in 1909.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nThese large establishments have remained for today\u2019s
\nshoppers (and tourists).  While in
\nBerlin this spring, my husband and I visited 
\nKa De We, reportedly the largest department store in the world.  It was truly magnificent.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Wine bar at Ka De We<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
In-store display of white asparagus and tomatoes at Ka De We<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Of course, a wonderful array of pastry at Ka De We<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nMany department stores were faced with the emigration of
\nfamilies to the suburbs, where once again small, independent stores formed
\n\u201cstrip malls\u201d.  The evolution of the
\nMall became large indoor areas of individual shops, with large parking lots.  Amenities include restaurants, cinemas,
\ntravel agencies and banking and beauty salons. 
\nMany also include large grocery stores so that it is truly a one-stop
\nshopping experience.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\nHowever, this retail evolution is not yet complete. A vast
\namount of \u201cretail therapy\u201d is now done on-line.  The ease of internet shopping and the vast array of merchandise
\navailable has become a boon for the busy household.  Sit by your computer in your robe and slippers, peruse the many,
\nmany sites, make your selection, pay on-line and have your purchases delivered
\nto your door, frequently with free delivery, from anywhere in the world.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Giving the Gifts The holidays are rapidly approaching.  Have you finished your holiday shopping? Actually, I quite like shopping, whether for the holiday season, or just a leisure activity.  The process of consumer buying has changed drastically over time.  Initially, people grew their own food, made their own clothes and were generally independent.  What goods…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}