Fashion, product innovation, and consumer culture in the late 19th century: Alle Città d’Italia department store in Milan

2019 ◽  
pp. 146954051987600
Author(s):  
Elisabetta Merlo ◽  
Carlo Marco Belfanti
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Consumer Culture ◽  
Product Innovation ◽  
Department Store ◽  
Consumer Society ◽  
Mail Order ◽  
Department Stores ◽  
Continuous Change ◽  
Haute Couture

Unlike product invention, product innovation has been overlooked as an issue relevant to the study of the economic, social, and cultural change. It is only in recent times that historians started to explore product innovation in order to understand the origins of consumer society. This article deals with fashion as a kind of product innovation and aims to explain how 19th-century fashion transformed clothing into a product designed and desired primarily for its ever-changing expressive and decorative qualities. The research is based on the mail order catalogs delivered by the Italian department store Alle Città d’Italia in the 1880s. Analysis of this valuable and largely unexplored historical source allowed us to conclude that (1) the innovative nature of 19th-century fashion had mainly to do with the services – ready-to-wear dress and novelty – provided to consumers rather than with the product’s physical components; (2) department stores and haute couture – the sole internationally acknowledged agency of fashioning at the time – both contributed to transform novelty and continuous change into distinctive characteristics of fashion; (3) fashion played a major role in modernizing consumer culture, shifting the focus from material elements to the services inherent in consumer goods.

scholarly journals Sign Consumption in the 19th-Century Department Store

2003 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 353-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken W. Parker
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Department Store ◽  
Department Stores ◽  
Shopping Malls ◽  
Symbolic Consumption ◽  
Exchange Value ◽  
Visual Merchandising ◽  
The 19Th Century

The department stores of the 19th century continue to fascinate social theorists. This article will expand on the work of two such theorists, Laermans and Featherstone. Extending Laermans’ and Featherstone’s analysis, and applying the early work of Baudrillard, this article will assert that through the manipulation of visual merchandising, the 19th-century department store’s managers constructed a world of sign-consumption where goods were not only consumed for their use- or exchange-value, but also were consumed as signs of luxury, exoticism and excess. By asserting that highly developed forms of sign-consumption existed in the 19th century, this article challenges the view that symbolic consumption in spaces such as shopping malls is particular to the contemporary or postmodern age.

Sears, Roebuck and the Remaking of the Department Store, 1924-42

2006 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 238-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Longstreth
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Department Store ◽  
Corporate Identity ◽  
Target Audience ◽  
Mail Order ◽  
Department Stores ◽  
Residential Areas ◽  
World War ◽  
Store Design ◽  
Retailing Business

Less than two decades after Sears, Roebuck-once the nation's largest mail-order business-entered the retailing business in 1924, it had gained prominence in that field nearly equal to that of its competitors. This unprecedented rate of expansion was marked by innovations in merchandising and store design. Sears was a pioneer in creating department stores that catered to men as well as women, that eschewed style in favor of practicality in merchandise, and that allowed customers to select goods without the aid of a clerk. The buildings likewise broke from convention. They were generally oriented to motorists-set apart from existing business districts amid residential areas occupied by their target audience; had ample, free, off-street parking; and communicated a clear corporate identity. In the 1930s, the company designed fully air-conditioned, "windowless" stores whose layout was driven wholly by merchandising concerns. In all these respects, Sears set important precedents that were widely followed by other major retailers after World War II.

T. C. Power & Bro.: The Rise of a Small Western Department Store, 1870–1902

1992 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 671-722 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry C. Klassen
Keyword(s):  
American West ◽  
Department Store ◽  
Social Needs ◽  
Consumer Society ◽  
Department Stores ◽  
The West ◽  
Mass Market ◽  
Small Family ◽  
History Of ◽  
Small Department

When studying retailing and its role in developing the American mass market, historians traditionally have focused their attention on large department stores. An analysis of the influence of small department stores in the growth of underdeveloped sections of the American West provides a different emphasis. The following article traces the history of T. C. Power & Bro.—a small, family-run department store in Montana—before the early 1900s. The article demonstrates that the firm's service was tailored to the economic and social needs of urban and rural settlers on the western frontier, helping to create a consumer society in the West.

Geographical space, social space, and the realm of the department store

Urban History ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeanne Catherine Lawrence
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Department Store ◽  
Consumer Society ◽  
Department Stores ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
Shopping Experience ◽  
Production And Distribution ◽  
Urban Topography ◽  
Urban Institution

Over the past decade a number of scholars have examined the rise of the mass production and distribution of goods, and the concurrent emergence of a nineteenth- and twentieth-century consumer society or ‘culture of consumption’. This body of work has featured the department store prominently in several roles: as a venue for the distribution of consumer goods; as a material fantasyland in which women were encouraged to play out their dreams of conspicuous consumption; and as a place of white-collar employment for working-class clerks. Whatever their focus, these accounts generally view all department stores as homogeneous middle-class institutions, located in a similarly consistent ‘downtown’ in any (and all) large American and European cities. There are serious flaws in such a portrayal. Very real distinctions between department stores in a given city and the social implications of these differences in terms of social status and class are not addressed. Further, the contribution of the built environment and urban topography to the shaping of these status and class distinctions and, ultimately, women's shopping experience, is likewise overlooked. This article examines a set of surveys and marketing reports prepared in 1932 for the Higbee Company of Cleveland, Ohio, in order to situate more precisely one department store within its urban context. These sources document the relationship of the Higbee Company to the city's other department stores and in so doing reveal some of the ways in which stratification between and among classes was interpreted in terms of geographical and social space. Examination of the hierarchy of stores that existed in what was at the time the nation's sixth largest city provides a corrective to the image of the department store as a homogeneous democratic phenomenon, and thus provides an invaluable basis for a reinterpretation of the department store as an urban institution in early twentieth- century America.

“The Biggest Small-Town Store in America”: Independent Retailers and the Rise of Consumer Culture

2008 ◽  
Vol 9 (03) ◽  
pp. 457-486
Author(s):  
Vicki Howard
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Consumer Culture ◽  
Small Town ◽  
Consumer Society ◽  
Department Stores ◽  
Urban Bias ◽  
Early Twentieth Century ◽  
American Consumer

The case study of Bresee's Department Store in Oneonta, New York, suggests that small-town department stores were not necessarily fully “modern” by the early twentieth century. This article demonstrates how modern, big-store, business methods came later and documents how earlier modes of trade, such as credit and bartering, persisted into the early twentieth century, even in non-rural, northern contexts. Preliminary findings suggest that eliminating the urban bias in much historiography by including small-town retailing practices may lead to a later periodization of American consumer society.

Pengaruh Positive Emotion, Time Availability, dan Money Availability terhadap Impulsive Buying Behavior Konsumen Mahasiswa pada Department Store di Kota Yogyakarta

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Faizal Ardiyanto
Keyword(s):  
Positive Emotion ◽  
Department Store ◽  
Department Stores ◽  
Buying Behavior ◽  
Managerial Implication ◽  
Impulsive Buying ◽  
Time Availability ◽  
Unplanned Buying ◽  
Buying In ◽  
Yogyakarta City

This research was conducted to examine the influence of positive emotion, time availability, and money availabilty toward impulsive buying behavior both partially and simultaneously. The respondent of this research are university students who have experienced unplanned buying in several department stores at Yogyakarta City. Purposive sampling method was utilized then 102 respondents were chosen. The results indicate that positive emotion, time availability, and money avaiability positively and significantly influence impulsive buying behavior. The three independent variables as stated above, simultaneously influence impulsive buying behavior also. Finally, as the managerial implication stated, it can be concluded that understanding consumers condition related with unplanned buying is important topics in recent years, especially in department store.

scholarly journals Channel Depth or Consistency? A Study on Establishing a Sustainable Omnichannel Strategy for Fashion Department Store Retailers

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 6993
Author(s):  
Caroline Kopot ◽  
Brenda J. Cude
Keyword(s):  
Business Strategy ◽  
Purchase Intention ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Department Store ◽  
Purchase Intentions ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Technological Advancement ◽  
Department Stores ◽  
Channel Depth ◽  
Confirmatory Factor

In recent years, fashion department stores have struggled to sustain their foothold in the competitive market due to changing consumer behavior as well as technological advancement. This study aimed to examine customers’ perspectives on the shopping channels of omnichannel fashion department stores. The analysis was based on data from 552 customers who shopped at U.S. omnichannel fashion department stores. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were utilized to analyze the hypothesized relationship. The results showed that brand attitude mediated the influence of perceived fluency of customers’ purchase intentions in the omnichannel fashion department store setting. Content consistency and process consistency also positively affected customers’ perceived fluency of the channels of those fashion department stores. Customers are more likely to purchase from a fashion department store that provides consistent content and processes across the multiple shopping channels from which they can purchase merchandise. Further, customers value consistency of the content and processes across all fashion department store channels. The results are insightful especially for industry practitioners, as it enables them to develop a sustainable omnichannel business strategy by focusing on the depth of the channels and channel consistencies (content and process) while improving customers’ purchase intention from their stores.

Off-price versus price-off

2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (10) ◽  
pp. 902-928 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald L. Hess Jr ◽  
Lawrence Ring
Keyword(s):  
Marketing Research ◽  
Extreme Points ◽  
Department Store ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Department Stores ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Store Attributes ◽  
The Us ◽  
Retail Format ◽  
Retail Formats

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to better understand the unique competitive positioning characteristics of off-price retailers and how they compare to other types of retailers. The authors compare off-price and upscale off-price retailers with four major formats of retailers: first, discount department store/warehouse club retailers; second, moderate department store retailers; third, department store retailers; and finally, specialty department store retailers. Design/methodology/approach – The paper employs a representative sample that was randomly drawn from four primary metropolitan cities in the USA. The data were collected using telephone interviews by a prominent, marketing research firm. A series of discriminant analyses were conducted to examine the data. Findings – The findings of the paper indicate that the off-price formats were consistently positioned at extreme points along the price/value continuum, signifying the strongest value-orientation among the other retail formats. The authors also found that while the upscale off-price format followed the specialty department stores in terms of fashion. The results point to an important disadvantage of the off-price format – although strong on price/value, they often fall short on fashion and many other store attributes that may be important to luxury-oriented customers. Research limitations/implications – The paper employed a sample from several cities collected using a telephone interview methodology within the US. Due to these limitations, the findings of this paper may be hampered by this methodology and not generalize to regions outside of the US. Future research should examine how the demise of most of the upscale off-price retailers and growth of flash web sites have changed the competitive structure of retailing. Practical implications – The results demonstrate that the positioning of the off-price retail format is unique from other formats. The retail formats occupy distinct positions. The off-price retail format is strongly associated with the price/value position but only moderately fashionable to customers, especially when compared with the department and specialty department store formats. In contrast, the upscale off-price format, while also strongly positioned along the price/value continuum, is considered much more fashionable than the off-price retail format. In fact, the upscale off-price retail format only trails the specialty department store format in terms of fashion. Originality/value – The unique characteristics of the off-price retail format and growing interest from upscale department stores underscores the need for a comprehensive understanding of the motives of the off-price shopper. This paper provides retailers with a more complete understanding of the store attributes that differentiate the off-price retail format from other major retail store formats. The overall objective of this study is to offer a comprehensive view of the positioning of off-price retailers compared with many alternative retail formats.

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