Retailing Revolution in the Eighteenth Century? Evidence from North-West England

Abstract

This article explores the extent and nature of retail change in the eighteenth century. In focusing on a single region, it places retailing in its spatial, economic and social context; by adopting different scales of analysis - shop, town and region - it reveals much about the spatiality of retailing. The study shows that retail change had penetrated all aspects of retailing and all parts of the regional urban hierarchy by the end of the eighteenth century. However, any retailing revolution was a patchy and conditional process: the pace of change varied, and the gap between large and small towns apparently widened in the early nineteenth century.

Why Did the Industrial Revolution Start in Britain?

“…2011,2015). Interestingly, Allen and Weisdorf (2011) Mui, 1988;Hoh-Chueng and Lorna, 1989;de Vries, 1993;Lemire, 1984Lemire, , 1992Lemire, , 1997Clifford, 1999, Berry, 2002;Stobart and Hann, 2004;Berg, 2004Berg, , 2005Reis, 2005;Vickery, 2006;Styles, 2006Styles, , 2007McCants, 2007;Hersh and Voth, 2009), have often been advanced in the literature to account for the British economic success after 1750 (see e.g. Habakkuk, 1962;Wrigley, 1967;de Vries, 1984de Vries, , 1994de Vries, , 2008Voigtlander and Voth, 2006;Allen, 2009bAllen, , 2010Brunt and Garcia-Penalosa, 2012;Abramson and Boix, 2014).…”

The economic and social role of small stores: a review of UK evidence

“…Historical studies emphasise the central role of small stores in providing a place or 'hub' for social interaction and advice to communities by virtue of their proximity to residents as well as specialisation, compared to larger store formats which tend to appeal to a diverse range of consumers through the value and innovation they offer (Alexander 2008;Alexander and Phillips 2006;Alexander et al 2008;Glennie 1998;Hilton 1998;Lyon et al 2004;Shaw and Alexander 2008;Stobart and Hann 2004;Wallis 2008), a function that appears to have changed little over time. Recent studies of the role of shopping facilities serve to underline the inherently social nature of the shopping process and the critical role which small stores play in this regard as a fundamental 'building block' of customers' retail activities (Holbrook and Jackson 1996), which they achieve through: fostering interaction by promoting local events and utilising local heritage (Anonymous 2006a); developing familiarity and building relationships (Pioch and Byrom 2004) with local customers which allows them to offer residents benefits (Byrom et al 2003); and creating 'emotional connections' in a friendly environment (Baron et al 2001).…”

Modernisation and the Practices of Contemporary Food Shopping

“…Recent studies have extended our understanding of the link between specific sites of consumption and the creation of modern gendered subjectivities, not just focusing on the 19th-century department store and shopping arcade but also examining how women were both captured by and empowered through images and practices of consumption in the 18th century (Kowaleski-Wallace, 1996; see also Bowlby, 2001). Finally, studies have shown how retail change had penetrated all parts of the urban hierarchy in England by the end of the 18th century but that the extent of the`retail revolution' was patchy, the pace of change varied, and the gap between large and small towns had widened by the early 19th century (Stobart and Hann, 2004). These studies all confirm the cumulative changes in consumption that were taking place during the 18th and 19th centuries rather than pointing to the kind of sharp break that is frequently associated with a decisive shift from`tradition' tò modernity'.…”