Sunday, December 5

Department store

A department store is a retail establishment which specializes in satisfying a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories. Department stores usually sell products including apparel, furniture, home appliances, electronics, and additionally select other lines of products such as paint, hardware, toiletries, cosmetics, photographic equipment, jewellery, toys, and sporting goods. Certain department stores are further classified as discount stores. Discount department stores commonly have central customer checkout areas, generally in the front area of the store. Department stores are usually part of a retail chain of many stores situated around a country or several countries.,

Discount retailers History,

Discount retailer in England,
John Lewis Newcastle (formerly Bainbridge) in Newcastle upon Tyne is the world’s oldest Department Store. It is still known to many of its customers as Bainbridge, despite the name change to 'John Lewis'. The Newcastle institution dates back to 1838 when Emerson Muschamp Bainbridge, aged 21, went into partnership with William Alder Dunn and opened a draper’s and fashion in Market Street, Newcastle.
In terms of retailing history, one of the most significant facts about the Newcastle Bainbridge shop, is that as early as 1849 weekly takings were recorded by department, making it the earliest of all department stores.This ledger survives and is kept in the John Lewis archives. John Lewis bought the Bainbridge store in 1952.
John Lewis Newcastle retained its original name of Bainbridge until 2002, when the store was rebranded as John Lewis Newcastle.


Le Bon Marché department store in Paris, 1867.,

Discount retailer in France,
Aristide Boucicaut founded Le Bon Marché in Paris in 1838, and by 1852 it offered a wide variety of goods in "departments" inside one building. Goods were sold at fixed prices, with guarantees that allowed exchanges and refunds. By the end of the 19th century, Georges Dufayel, a French credit merchant, had served up to three million customers and was affiliated with La Samaritaine, a large French department store established in 1870 by a former Bon Marché executive.,

Discount retailer in Ireland,
As Le Bon Marché evolved into a department store in the early 1850s, Delany's New Mart opened in 1853 in Dublin, Ireland on Sackville Street (now O'Connell Street). Unlike others, Delany's had not evolved gradually from a smaller shop on site. Acquired by the Clery family in the late 19th century, both the store and Imperial Hotel located in its upper floors were completely destroyed in the 1916 Easter Rising. However the store reopened in 1922, this time across numerous floors, as the famous Clerys department store that stands today, housed in a modern neoclassical building based on Selfridges of London.,

Discount retailer in Wales and Australia,
David Jones (Australia) was started by David Jones, a Welsh merchant who met Hobart businessman Charles Appleton in London. Appleton had established a store in Sydney in 1825 and Jones subsequently established a partnership with Appleton, moved to Australia in 1835, and the Sydney store became known as Appleton & Jones. When the partnership was dissolved in 1838, Jones moved his business to premises on the corner of George Street and Barrack Lane, Sydney. Jones survived the depression of the 1840s, and by 1856 had retired from active management of the business. A few years later when the firm failed he returned to manage its affairs and in a few years had fully discharged all obligations to his creditors.
By 1887, the George Street store had been rebuilt and a mail order facility introduced. A factory was opened in Marlborough Street, Sydney to reduce reliance on imported goods.
David Jones also makes a claim to be the oldest department store in the world still trading under its original name.

Discount retailer in Lewis's,
By 1956, Lewis's had the largest stores in the provinces of the UK. It started in Liverpool in 1856. Lewis's experimented in new ways of advertising (such as flooding the basement of the Manchester store to create a mini Venice.)
Since 1856 it had stores in Manchester (1877), Liverpool (1856), Birmingham , Glasgow, Liverpool (The Bon Marche), Leeds, Hanley, London (Selfridges), Bristol and Leicester . The group's first and final store, in Liverpool, went into administration in 2007 and was purchased as a going concern by Vergo Retail Limited, enabling the store to continue trading under the Lewis's brand. In February 2010 Vergo Retail announced that this store would close by June  but, following Vergo going into administration, the date of closure was announced as 29 May.,

Discount retailer in New York City,
In New York City in 1846, Alexander Turney Stewart established the "Marble Palace" on the east-Broadway, between Chambers and Reade streets. He offered European retail merchandise at fixed prices on a variety of dry goods, and advertised a policy of providing "free entrance" to all potential customers. Though it was clad in white marble to look like a Renaissance palazzo, the building's cast iron construction permitted large plate glass windows.
In 1862 Stewart built a department store on a full city block at Broadway and 9th Street, opposite Grace Church, with eight floors and nineteen departments of dress goods and furnishing materials, carpets, glass and china, toys and sports equipment, ranged around a central glass-covered court. Within a couple of decades, New York's retail center had moved uptown, forming a stretch of retail shopping from "Marble Palace" that was called the "Ladies' Mile".
In 1858 Rowland Hussey Macy founded Macy's as a dry goods store. Benjamin Altman and Lord & Taylor soon competed with Stewart as New York's first department stores, later followed by "McCreary's" and, in Brooklyn, "Abraham & Straus." (The Straus family would be in the management of both Macy's and A&S.)
Similar developments were under way in London (with Whiteleys), in Paris (with La Samaritaine) and in Chicago, where department stores sprang up along State Street, notably Marshall Field and Company, which was the second-largest department store in the world prior to converting to Macy's. In 1877, Wanamaker's opened in Philadelphia. Philadelphia's John Wanamaker performed a 19th century redevelopment to the former Pennsylvania Railroad terminal in that city and eventually opened a modern day department store in the building.,

Discount retailer in Chicago,
Marshall Field & Company Marshall Field's was a department store in Chicago, Illinois that grew to become a major chain before being acquired by Macy's Inc. on August 30, 2005. Marshall Field's Served as a model for other departments stores in that it had exceptional customer service. Fields also brought with it the now famous Frango mints brand that became so closely identified with Marshall Field's and Chicago from the now defunct Frederick & Nelson Department store. Marshall Fields also had the Firsts, among many innovations by Marshall Field's. Field's had the first European buying office, which was located in Manchester, England, and the first bridal registry. The company was the first to introduce the concept of the personal shopper, and that service was provided without charge in every Field's store, right up to the chain's last days under the Marshall Field's name. It was the first store to offer revolving credit and the first department store to use escalators. Marshall Field's book department in the State Street store was legendary; it pioneered the concept of the "book signing." Moreover, every year at Christmas, Marshall Field's downtown store windows were filled with animated displays as part of the downtown shopping district display; the "theme" window displays became famous for their ingenuity and beauty, and visiting the Marshall Field's windows at Christmas became a tradition for Chicagoans and visitors alike, as popular a local practice as visiting the Walnut Room with its equally famous Christmas tree or meeting "under the clock" on State Street.,

Discount retailer in Salt Lake City,
On March 1, 1869 Zion's Cooperative Mercantile Institution was opened in Salt Lake City as a new community store that became the first incorporated department store in America in 1870. A new 3-story brick and iron store was built in 1876, noted for its unique architecture and striped awnings.
This store was replaced by an enclosed shopping center in 1973, and the new Zion department store preserved the gilt-edged ornate facade of the old store.
In 1999 the May Department Stores bought a 14-store ZCMI chain and changed its name to "Meier & Frank", a May property with eight stores in Oregon and Washington. Subsequently May Department Stores completed a merger with Federated Department Stores and the Meier & Frank brand ZCMI stores have become Macy's stores, effective late 2006.,

Discount retailer in Detroit,
In 1881, Joseph Lowthian Hudson opened a small men's clothing store in Detroit. After 10 years he had 8 stores in the midwest and was the most profitable clothing retailer in the country.
In 1893 he began construction of the immense department store at Gratiot and Farmer streets in Detroit. The 25-story tower was added in 1928, and a 12-story addition in 1946, giving the entire complex 49 acres (200,000 m2) of floor space.
In 1954 the company became a suburban shopping center pioneer when it built Northland 13 miles (21 km) northwest of Detroit. In 1969 it merged with the Dayton Corporation to create Dayton-Hudson headquartered in Minneapolis.
George Dayton had founded his Dayton's Daylight store in Minneapolis in 1902 and the AMC cooperative in 1912, built the Southdale Shopping Center in 1956, and started the Target discount store chain in 1962.
The new corporation closed the flagship Hudson department store in downtown Detroit in 1983, but expanded its other retail operations. It acquired Mervyn's in 1978, Marshall Field's in 1990, and renamed itself the Target Corporation in 2000.
The podium of the Renaissance Center includes, among other retail venues, a department store.,

Discount retailer in 1890 onward,
By 1890 a new world of retailing had been created as department stores had a clear market position as universal providers. General stores eventually became department stores as small towns became cities. The department store created several of North America's first large businesses. The department store is also largely responsible for the standard store design seen today, because of its size it required new building materials, glass technology and new heating, amongst other architectural innovations.
Some department stores leased space to individual merchants, similar to the changes in late 17th-century London, but by 1900 the smaller merchants were purchased or eventually replaced by the larger companies. Today only the most specialized departments are leased out, such as photography, photo finishing, automotive services or financial services. However, today this is rare, as most departments—even a store's restaurant—are usually run by the store itself.


"Maayan Stub", old department store in Jerusalem, opened in 1940.
Before the 1950s, the department store held an eminent place in both Canada and Australia, during both the Great Depression and World War II. Since then, they have suffered from strong competition from specialist stores. Most recently the competition has intensified with the advent of larger-scale superstores (Jones et al. 1994; Merrilees and Miller 1997). Competition was not the only reason for the department stores' weakening strength; the changing structure of cities also affected them. The compact and centralized 19th century city with its mass transit lines converging on the downtown was a perfect environment for department store growth. But as residents moved out of the downtown areas to the suburbs, the large, downtown department stores became inconvenient and lost business to the newer suburban shopping malls. In 2003, U.S. department store sales were surpassed by big-box store sales for the first time.

Department stores by country,

Discount retailer in Argentina,
In Buenos Aires, upscale department stores came during the early years of the 20th century. Gath & Chávez opened in 1905 and Harrods Buenos Aires was established in 1912. Today, the Chilean department store Falabella is one of the most prominent in the country, with branches in Buenos Aires, Córdoba, San Juan, Mendoza, and Rosario. Falabella is one of the miist popular stores in Argentina today.,

Discount retailer in Australia,
Although there were a number of department stores in Australia for much of the 20th Century, today Myer and David Jones, located nationally, are practically the national department stores duopoly in Australia. Other retail chain stores such as Target, Kmart and Big W, also located nationally, are considered to be Australia's discount department stores. Harris Scarfe (trading under the Allens brand in New South Wales and the ACT), though only operating in four states and one territory, is a department store using both the large full-line and small discount department store formats. Most department stores in Australia have their own credit card companies, each having their own benefits while the discount department stores do not have their own credit card rights.,

Discount retailer in Canada,
From its origins in the fur trade, the Hudson's Bay Company is the largest department store operator in Canada, and the oldest corporation in North America, with locations across the country. It also owns Zellers, another major Canadian department store. Other department stores in Canada are: Sears Canada, Walmart Canada, Canadian Tire and Holt Renfrew. Historically, department stores were a significant component in Canadian economic life, and chain stores such as Eaton's, Spencer's, Simpsons and Woodward's were staples in their respective communities. Department stores in Canada are similar in design and style to department stores in the United States.
In northern or isolated communities The North West Company (named after the historical North West Company fur trade company) operates smaller department stores.,

Discount retailer in Chile,
Albeit relatively small, the domestic Chilean retail market has proved fiercely competitive with several department stores sprouting in Santiago and then expanding north and south of the country. Leading department stores today include Falabella, Ripley, Almacenes París, La Polar, Sodimac, Johnson's, and Corona. Fallabella, founded in 1889, has opened branches in Argentina, Colombia, and Peru, with París -its main Chilean competitor- coming on its heels.,

Discount retailer in China,
Department stores first appeared in China at the beginning of the 20th Century, the concept said to be introduced by expatriate Chinese living in Australia. Before 1949, there were four main department stores in Shanghai: Wing On, Sincere, Sun Sun and Da Sun; the first two still exist today.
During World War II patriotic sentiment in China had led to the formation of a number of department stores specializing in locally-made merchandise. These types of stores became the mainstay in China after the formation of the Communist state in 1949.
Both types of department stores have long had branches in Hong Kong; however Japanese department stores began to appear in the 1960s, and within a generation's time became the dominant force in the market. The Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s had resulted in the closures of some of these stores, but on the whole Hong Kong still has one of the world's most competitive retail markets.
Since the opening policy in 1979, the Chinese department stores also develops swiftly along with the fast growing economy. There are different department store groups dominate different areas of China, for example, INTIME department store has the biggest market presence in Zhejiang province, while Jinying department stores dominate Jiangsu Province. Besides, there are many other department store groups, such as Pacific, PARKSON, Wangfujing，New World，etc., many of them are expanding quickly by listing in the financial market.,

Discount retailer in Cyprus,
The most famous department store chain in Cyprus is Debenhams (former Woolworths (Cyprus)).,

Discount retailer in Denmark,
In Denmark you find three department store chains: Magasin (1868), Illum (1891), Salling (1906). Magasin is by far the largest with 6 stores all over the country, with the flagship store being Magasin du Nord on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. Illums only store on Amagertorv in Copenhagen has the appearance of a department store with 20% run by Magasin, but has individual shop owners making it a shopping centre. But in peoples mind it remains a department store. Salling has two stores in Jutland with one of these being the reason for the closure of a magasin store due to the competition.,

Discount retailer in El Salvador,
Carrion
Dorian's, Mexican Department stores present only in Mexico and El Salvador.
Siman,

Discount retailer in Finland,
The most famous department store chains in Finland are Stockmann, a listed company, and Sokos, owned by a nationwide retailing cooperative. The Stockmann department store in central Helsinki is the biggest department store in the entire Nordic countries and a famous landmark of Helsinki.,

Discount retailer in France,
File:Galerie Lafae Haussmann Dome.jpg
Galeries Lafayette's famous dome and suspended Christmas tree, in Paris.
France's major upscale department stores are Galeries Lafayette and Le Printemps, which both have flagship stores on Boulevard Haussmann in Paris and branches around the country. The oldest department store in France (and in the world) is Le Bon Marché in Paris, owned by the luxury goods conglomerate LVMH. La Samaritaine, another upscale department store also owned by LVMH, closed in 2005. Mid-range department stores chains also exist in France such as the BHV (Bazar de l'Hotel de Ville), part of the same group as Galeries Lafayette.,

Discount retailer in Germany,
In Germany there are a number of department stores. There are three big department store companies, Karstadt (part of Arcandor AG, also operating the KaDeWe and two Wertheim department stores in Berlin and the Alsterhaus in Hamburg), Hertie and Kaufhof (part of the Metro AG). There are also some smaller independent department stores. Some department stores only sell clothing. The biggest clothing department store chain is C&A. Larger department stores in Germany usually contain a self-service restaurant, clothing departments, a toy department, a department for computer and electronics, a small book department (for bestsellers), a department for newspapers and magazines and a food department (like a supermarket).
One of the most famous department stores in Germany is the Kaufhaus des Westens (KaDeWe, German for "department store of the west") which is located in Berlin.,

Discount retailer in India,
India has number of departmental stores. Being the seventh largest country in the world there are lot of companies like Big Bazaar, Pantaloon, Ezone , Reliance Fresh and Dmart entering into retail. Small time department stores - or convenience stores as they are better known in most western countries, are also upcoming. Although these stores are much bigger in size than an usual size convenience store in, lets say the US, they are much smaller than a regular sized Department store. Examples include : Sabka Bazaar : Big Apple : Marks and Spencers


Big Bazaar along with Mcdonalds Restaurant at Ahmedabad, India.,

Discount retailer in Indonesia,
Indonesia's largest department store chain is Ramayana with over ninety branches across the country. The same group also operates under Robinsons, all targeting the lower income sectors. Other local department store is Matahari, now owned by Lippo Group. The group previously managed to trade under Mega M, Galeria, JC Penney, Parisian and Walmart brands, all of which have been progressively closed. The middle up segment is mainly occupied by Metro Department Store originated from Singapore and Sogo. In 2007 saw the re-opening of Jakarta's Seibu, poised to be the largest and second most upscale department store in Indonesia after Harvey Nichols, which will be opened in 2008 at the same shopping centre, the Grand Indonesia Shopping Town. Other international department stores include Debenhams and Marks & Spencer. Debenhams, Harvey Nichols, Marks & Spencer, Seibu and Sogo are all operated by PT. Mitra Adiperkasa.,

Discount retailer in Iran,
Iran's largest and newest department store chain is Shahrvand with 25 stores, all located in Tehran. The other chains are ROLEX and TANDIS which have stores throughout the country.,

Discount retailer in Ireland,
Originally the Republic of Ireland had two department stores, Clerys and Arnotts, the latter considered to be one of the largest stores in Ireland. However, several large retailers now own chains of department stores, such as:

Debenhams,
Dunnes Stores
Marks & Spencer
The most upmarket chain is undoubtedly Brown Thomas, founded as a haberdasher's in 1849 on Dublin's Grafton Street. The company (which belongs to the same group as the UK's Selfridges or Canada's Holt Renfrew) bought its long time competitor across the street, Switzers, in 1995. BT then moved to the larger site. It also acquired and re-branded the former Switzer stores in Cork (formerly Cash's), Limerick (formerly Todd's) and Galway (formerly Moon's).
There are also many self-owned department stores around the country, especially in rural towns.
The British department store, Debenhams, purchased the Roches Stores chain in 2006, closed two stores and rebranded the others. The opening of Dundrum Town Centre in Dublin's suburbs saw the arrival of two more British stores, House of Fraser and Harvey Nichols.,

Discount retailer in Japan,
Main article: Department stores in Japan
Some of the largest department stores in Japan include Daimaru (J. Front Retailing), Hankyu (H2O Retailing), Hanshin (H2O Retailing), Isetan (Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings), Marui, Matsuzakaya (J. Front Retailing), Matsuya, Mitsukoshi (Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings), Printemps Ginza, Seibu (Millennium Retailing), Sogo (Millennium Retailing), Takashimaya, Tobu, and Tokyu (109). Many are owned and operated in conjunction with private railway companies. Recently, business integration has been successive.,

Discount retailer in Kuwait,
One of the oldest and biggest Department stores in Kuwait is Union Trading Company also known as UTC, Operating 15 retail outlets across the country, and offers a wide selection of imported international brands in Fashion & Apparel, Perfumery, Cosmetics, Accessories, Homeware, Houseware, Electronics, Appliances and Food. Recently one of the most well-known high end clothing department stores wise in Kuwait is Villa Moda.,

Discount retailer in Lebanon,
Department stores in Lebanon include ABC Group, Bazar de l'Hôtel de Ville, The Sultan Center, Aïshti and Spinneys.,

Discount retailer in Malaysia,
In Malaysia, companies such as AEON Jusco, Parkson, Metrojaya, The Store, Isetan, Marks & Spencer, Robinson & Co., Debenhams and Tangs are considered department stores, while retail brands such as Tesco, Giant and Carrefour are discount department stores combines supermarket.,

Discount retailer in Mexico,
Mexico has a large number of department stores, including the Mexican chains:
Upper Class El Palacio de Hierro.
Up-Mid Class Liverpool and Mid Class sister store Fabricas de Francia.
Lower middle class Suburbia.
Working class Coppel and Elektra.
Department store, pharmacy and restaurants Sanborns
Grupo Carso operated Sears Mexico branch.
Upper Class American operated Saks 5th Avenue
Former Mexican JC Penney Stores and Grupo Carso operated Dorian´s.,

Discount retailer in Netherlands,


Flagship branch of Dutch department store De Bijenkorf in Amsterdam.
The most well-known department stores in The Netherlands are De Bijenkorf, HEMA, Maison de Bonneterie and Vroom & Dreesmann.,

Discount retailer in New Zealand,


The Smith & Caugheys store building on Queen Street, Auckland.
In New Zealand, there are three prominent national department store chains - The Warehouse and Kmart discount stores, and the mid-market Farmers. Most upmarket department stores are located regionally, such as Smith & Caugheys in Auckland, Kirkcaldie & Stains in Wellington, and Ballantynes in Christchurch.,

Discount retailer in Norway,
In Norway, most department stores are located in Oslo. The most known are Christiania Glasmagasin, Steen & Strøm, Åhléns, House of Oslo and Illums,

Discount retailer in Panama,
Panama's first department stores such as Bazaar Francés, La Dalia and La Villa de Paris started as textile retailers at the turn of the nineteenth century. Later on in the twentieth century these eventually gave way to stores such as Felix B. Maduro, Sarah Panamá, Figali, Danté, Sears, Gran Morrison and smaller ones such as Bon Bini, Cocos, El Lider, Piccolo and Clubman among others. Of these only Felix B. Maduro (usually referred to as Felix by locals) and Danté remain strong. All the others have either folded or declined although Cocos has managed to secure a good position in the market. Today major department stores aside from these two include Steven's and Collin's. There are also many discount department stores such as Conway which includes a furniture and decoration department named Conway Design, La Onda, Dorian's, Saks, Madison Store and El Titan among others.,

Discount retailer in Philippines,
One of the first department stores in the Philippines were located in Metro Manila and established by SM Prime Holdings and Rustan's . Since its debut in the 1950s, they now hold more than 100 department stores to date. At present, due to the huge success of shopping malls, department stores in the Philippines usually serve as part of an anchor tenant inside. SM Supermalls and Robinsons Malls are two of the country's most prominent mall chains, all of which has Department Store sections.,

Discount retailer in Portugal,
Currently Portugal has only two department stores, both operated by El Corte Inglés, one in Lisbon Metropolitan Area, other in Porto Metropolitan Area. This small number of department stores can be explained by the wide spread presence throughout the country of shopping malls and supermarket chains like Modelo, owned by Sonae, Intermarche and Pingo Doce owned by Jeronimo Martins which are more akin to the local taste.,

Discount retailer in Puerto Rico,
In Puerto Rico, various department stores have operated, such as Sears, JC Penney, Kmart and Wal-Mart. La New York was a Puerto Rican department store. Topeka and Pitusa are competitors on the Puerto Rican markets which also have hipermarkets operating under their names.,

Discount retailer in Russia,
Arguably the most famous department store in Russia is GUM in Moscow, followed by TsUM and the Petrovsky Passage. Other popular stores are Mega (shopping malls), Stockmann, and Marks & Spencer. Media Markt, M-video, Technosila, and White Wind (Beliy Veter) sell large number of electronic devices. In St. Petersburg The Passage has been popular since the 1840s.,

Discount retailer in Singapore,
Most department stores are clustered around Orchard Road in Singapore. The most well-known department stores in Singapore are BHG (formally known as Seiyu), Isetan, John Little, Marks & Spencer, Metro, Mustafa, OG, Robinson & Co., Takashimaya and Tangs. Some of their branch outlets can also be found in the sub-urban shopping malls.,

Discount retailer in South Korea,
File:Lotte department myoungdong.JPG
Lotte Department Store, Seoul, Korea
The three most prevalent chains are Lotte, Hyundai, Shinsegae. Lotte Department Store is the largest, operating more than 30 stores (include outlet, young plaza, foreign branches). Hyundai Department Store has about 10 stores, and there are 8 stores in Shinsegae. These three department stores are known to people as representative corporations in the field of distirution in South Korea. From fashion items to electric appliances, people can buy various kinds of products. Every weekends, lots of people are fond of going around these department stores, because their location is usually easy to visit. As of 2010 the Shinsegae department store in Centum City, Busan, is the largest department store in the world.,

Discount retailer in Spain,
Following the 2002 closure by the Australian group Partridges of their SEPU (Sociedad Española de Precios Unicos) department store chain, which in fact was Spain's oldest, the market is now dominated by El Corte Inglés, founded in 1934 as a drapery store. El Corte Inglés stores tend to be vast buildings, selling a very broad range of products and the group also controls a number of other retail formats including supermarket chain 'Supercor' and hypermarket chain 'Hipercor'. Other competitors such as 'Simago' and 'Galerías Preciados' closed in the 1990s, however El Corte Inglés, faces major competition from French discount operators such as Carrefour and Auchan .,

Discount retailer in Sweden,
The largest department store chain in Sweden is Åhléns, which operates stores throughout the country. Its flagship Stockholm store, Åhléns City, is the largest department store in Sweden. Other large stores are Nordiska Kompaniet in Stockholm and Gothenburg, and PUB in Stockholm.,

Discount retailer in Switzerland,
The Swiss retail market is dominated by two consumers' cooperatives, Migros and Coop, which also run department stores. Migros operates 12 upscale Globus department stores and 34 mid-range Migros MMM centers across the country. Since the acquisitions of EPA in 2002, Coop operates its mid-range department stores under the brand Coop City. Manor operates department stores throughout the country. Jelmoli and Loeb operate upscale department stores in Zurich and Bern respectively.,

Discount retailer in Thailand,
The most popular department stores in Thailand are Central Department Store which are managed by Central Group. These are the list of department stores in Thailand
Central Department Store - has 20 branches (2010)
Zen Department Store - has 1 branch (located at CentralWorld) (2010)
The Mall Group - has 9 branches (2010)
Paragon Department Store has 1 branch (located in Siam Paragon) (2010)
Emporium Department Store has 1 branch (located in Emporium Shopping Mall (2010)
Robinson Department Store has 22 branches (a division of the Central Group) (2010)
The Center has 1 branch (a division of Tesco Lotus) (2010)
Diana Department Store has 3 branches (2010),

Discount retailer in United Kingdom,
Most of the early department stores in London started out as small drapery stores which bought up neighbouring stores and increased their range of products.


The exterior of Harrods in London.
Whiteleys in Westbourne Grove was first to grow to department store size. By 1867 it consisted of 17 departments and by 1890 it was operating in a purposely built department store and had over 6,000 staff employed in the business.
Barkers in Kensington can be defined as a department store by 1880, when it encompassed 15 neighbouring stores, and in 1889 the company moved into a new, large building. This was eventually taken over by House of Fraser and closed for business in 2006.
Peter Jones in Sloane Square had grown to department store size by 1890.
Harrods was reborn as a proper department store in 1889, after a devastating fire in 1883.
John Lewis
Selfridges was opened in 1909 by the American entrepreneur Harry Gordon Selfridge, and thus became London's seventh department store.
House of Fraser owns and operates several department stores across the UK.
Harvey Nichols of Sloane Street, Knightsbridge is Harrods' closest competitor.
Debenhams is one of the UK's most popular department stores.
Bentalls in Kingston Upon Thames was rebuilt in the late 1980s with the impressive Aston-Webb facade retained as the frontage for the new Bentall Shopping Centre.
John Lewis Newcastle (formerly Bainbridge) in Newcastle upon Tyne, is the world’s oldest Department Store. It is still known to many of its customers as Bainbridge, despite the name change to 'John Lewis'. The Newcastle institution dates back to 1838 when Emerson Muschamp Bainbridge, aged 21, went into partnership with William Alder Dunn and opened a draper’s and fashion in Market Street, Newcastle. In terms of retailing history, one of the most significant facts about the Newcastle Bainbridge shop, is that as early as 1849 weekly takings were recorded by department, making it the earliest of all department stores. This ledger survives and is kept in the John Lewis archives. John Lewis bought the Bainbridge store in 1952.
John Lewis Newcastle retained its original name of Bainbridge until 2002, when the store was rebranded as John Lewis Newcastle.
Also, Kendals in Manchester can lay claim to being one of the oldest department stores in the UK. Beginning as a small shop owned by S. and J. Watts in 1796, its sold a variety of goods. Kendal Milne and Faulkner purchased the business in 1835. Expanding the space, rather than use it as a typical warehouse simply to showcase textiles, it became a vast bazaar. Serving Manchester's upmarket clientele for over 200 years, it was recently purchased by the House of Fraser - although most Mancunians still refer to it as Kendals.
In Edinburgh, Jenners saw a similar development. It starting as a drapery store in 1838, which by 1890 had grown into Scotland's largest retail store by gobbling up all the small stores in the neighbourhood. In 1895, after a devastating fire, a new ultra-modern building opened, with lavish electrical lighting, hydraulic lifts and air conditioning. Four hours after the grand opening, 25,000 people had already visited the store.
In the UK the term "department store" still refers to the traditional, classic department store, which has a wide range of independent departments with their own staff and their own tills. Large discount stores with the tills located by the entrance are not regarded as department stores in the UK, although the owners may call them that. Such stores as Marks & Spencer, Britain's largest clothes retailer would therefore not be included in the British definition of a department store.,

Discount retailer in United States,


The Macy's flagship department store in New York City with its famous brownstone at 34th and Broadway.
In the United States, companies such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Barneys New York, Bergdorf Goodman, Belk, Kohl's, Bloomingdale's, Nordstrom, Lord & Taylor, Macy's, Dillard's, JC Penney, and Sears are considered department stores, while retail brands such as Target, Kmart, and Wal-Mart are discount department stores. T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, and Burlington Coat Factory are stores that sell designer goods at lower prices. Stores that carry a general line of groceries and other product lines similar to those of department stores are considered warehouse clubs or supercenters. Warehouse clubs require a nominal annual membership fee, while supercenters do not. Costco, BJ's Wholesale Club, and Sam's Club are examples of warehouse clubs.




(source:wikipedia)
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