In the age of multichannel commerce, shopping malls and department stores are faced with difficult challenges coupled with new and promising perspectives. The objective for a winning concept is to optimize the quality of stay by indulging visitors so they spend as much time as possible on site. The customer must conceive the visit as an all-around inspiring experience which engages the senses beyond the consumption of goods. This occurs by diversifying the offer with cultural institutions, a variety of dining opportunities and exciting leisure activities. Architectural quality as well as the targeted use of design is playing an increasingly important role. This richly illustrated volume with its detailed planning material presents the newest trends and developments in the context of current projects from around the world.

The geography of American retail has changed dramatically since the first luxurious department stores sprang up in nineteenth-century cities. Introducing light, color, and music to dry-goods emporia, these "palaces of consumption" transformed mere trade into occasions for pleasure and spectacle. Through the early twentieth century, department stores remained centers of social activity in local communities. But after World War II, suburban growth and the ubiquity of automobiles shifted the seat of economic prosperity to malls and shopping centers. The subsequent rise of discount big-box stores and electronic shopping accelerated the pace at which local department stores were shuttered or absorbed by national chains. But as the outpouring of nostalgia for lost downtown stores and historic shopping districts would indicate, these vibrant social institutions were intimately connected to American political, cultural, and economic identities. The first national study of the department store industry, From Main Street to Mall traces the changing economic and political contexts that transformed the American shopping experience in the twentieth century. With careful attention to small-town stores as well as glamorous landmarks such as Marshall Field's in Chicago and Wanamaker's in Philadelphia, historian Vicki Howard offers a comprehensive account of the uneven trajectory that brought about the loss of locally identified department store firms and the rise of national chains like Macy's and J. C. Penney. She draws on a wealth of primary source evidence to demonstrate how the decisions of consumers, government policy makers, and department store industry leaders culminated in today's Wal-Mart world. Richly illustrated with archival photographs of the nation's beloved downtown business centers, From Main Street to Mall shows that department stores were more than just places to shop.

"This is the first beautifully illustrated book on department stores, with photographs and ephemera from all over the world. Born in the Gilded Age in France, the department store grew up thanks to the industrial revolution, the rise of the middle class, and the invention of steel-frame architecture and the elevator. Spectacular entrances led to marble staircases and floor after floor of merchandise and amenities. These emporiums also inspired a whole new way of merchandising: shopping became an entertainment rather than a laborious grind; posters and advertisements were made by the great artists of the time; and elaborate shop windows attracted thousands of people during the holidays. The department store quickly spread through Europe and Asia and then the New World, and great architects were employed to build these temples of consumerism, where dreams were created and then fulfilled"--

Inhaltsangabe:Abstract: Why are traditional German department stores close to bankruptcy in a time when so many new shopping centers with a similar offering of goods are being built? Is this phenomenon just a problem of German companies or do other countries have the same situation? For comparison, the situations in different countries, Germany and Spain are picked. Most of the literature in the field of retail management is written about US American companies. Thus, this thesis cannot totally ignore it. E-commerce, despite its growing importance, is not part of this comparison, as both retail formats are faced with the same opportunities and threats by it. The starting point of this thesis is the difficult situation Karstadt was facing in the last two years and the story about the successful department store concept of El Corte Inglés in Spain; hence these two companies play a major role throughout this thesis. The introduction provides the reader with an overview of the thesis. Furthermore, the question is addressed, if department stores and shopping centers can be compared. The main body of this thesis consists of three parts, which are structured after the same pattern: country level, industry level and company level. First, data is collected for a later analysis. Chapter 2 gathers all relevant information about Germany and Spain and then narrows down to the history of department stores and shopping centers. The company data is shown in its own chapter 3, as a major part of this thesis should be the company comparison of Karstadt and El Corte Inglés. The market leaders in the respective markets are shown in case studies and complemented by data of the two companies that emphasizes the final analysis and conclusion. The theoretical background of company analysis is given in chapter 4. Again, the first part about the macro environment concentrates on the country level. Then, the micro environment forces comparing the attractiveness of industries are explained. The last part contains the fundamentals of the internal environment analysis, which reflects the company level. In chapter 5, the findings are used to construct profiles, point out differences between the different countries, industries and companies, and to find ideas for improving the existing management strategies of the given companies. The conclusion not only provides a summary of the thesis, it also gives a forecast and identifies sources and possibilities for further [...]

Publisher Description

Michael J. Lisicky is the author of several bestselling books, including Hutzler's: Where Baltimore Shops. In demand as a department store historian, he has given lectures at institutions such as the New York Public Library, the Boston Public Library, the Free Library of Philadelphia, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, the Milwaukee County Historical Society, the Enoch Pratt Free Library and the Jewish Museum of Maryland. His books have received critical acclaim from the Baltimore Sun, Baltimore City Paper, Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Pittsburgh Post Gazette. He has been interviewed by national business periodicals including Fortune Magazine, Investor's Business Daily and Bloomberg Businessweek. His book Gimbels Has It was recommended by National Public Radio's Morning Edition program as "One of the Freshest Reads of 2011." Mr. Lisicky helps run an "Ask the Expert" column with author Jan Whitaker at www.departmentstorehistory.net and resides in Baltimore, where he is an oboist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

The book includes translations of 125 documents from the various investigations of the Kirov murder, allowing readers to reach their own conclusions about Stalin's involvement in the assassination. --