The development of department stores in Canada gave way to a new modern era of Canadian society. Through the development of mass retail in 1890 and 1940, Canada experienced a spur in the retail industry as large stores such as Eaton’s, Simpson’s and HBC emerged. Donica Belisle's book “Retail Nation: Department Stores and the Making of Modern Canada”, is useful to understand the expansion of the retail industry as it examines department stores activities along with the responses of consumers, employees, governments and critics to gain insights on the evolution of consumer capitalism in Canada through a feminist perspective. In this essay, I will give a brief summary of the book as well as a review based on my opinions of the book and author. …show more content…
Departments stores in Canada emerged late compared to Britain, France and the United States however, they grew quickly, and even surpassed large global retail stores in terms of sales and size. The top three department stores: Eaton's, Simpson's and HBC monopolized Canada's retail market, differentiating themselves from international competitors. They were able to capture the market through innovative ideas such as mail-order catalogues and various branch stores. Retailers promoted consumerism as normal and portrayed Canada as a ‘consumer nation’ (58). Department stores attempted to construct themselves as Canadian institutions. Canada's department stores had a considerable influence on Canadian economic, social, and cultural life. They helped define modern Canadian society as consumerist, middle-class and white …show more content…
Women made up a large proportion of the consumer market for department stores. It suggested that there was a gendered division of labour. Department stores provided leisure, which attracted women as consumers. Some women enjoyed their shopping experience whereas others found it irritating. Moreover, some felt alienated due to class inequality and racial prejudice. Also, there was a significant quantity of women working for department stores. Department stores were one of the first employers to hire women for service jobs (158). Nonetheless, the work environments were not perfect, women faced several obstacles such as gender and racial discrimination. Although they were able to acquire entry-level jobs, they were limited to just that. Women were oppressed by the glass ceiling and for the most part, men obtained managerial positions. They also faced sexual objectification. However, some women took it upon themselves to improve their working conditions and did so through the government and protests. There willingness to challenge these limitations paved way for numerous working women
Harry Gordon, as a good entrepreneur, invested about £400,000 in a business opportunity never noticed before. In 1906, while spending his holidays in London, he noticed the absence of department stores adapted to the latest selling ideas used in America. Promoting shopping for pleasure rather than necessity and named after its founder, Selfridges & Co. became an exciting shopping experience, enabling people to experience new releases whether it was an aeroplane displayed in the store or the opening of the biggest bookshop in the world. “I am prepared to sell anything from an aeroplane to a cigar.” (Harry Gordon Selfridge, 1910)
Over the years, the American department store has developed and evolved as not only a commercial business but also a cultural institution. While it has weathered many storms and changes since its inception and throughout history, its most predominant enemy has been a change in the lifestyle of the American people (Whitaker, 2013). As the customer’s needs and wants have shifted, department stores have struggled to keep up with demands. It has been argued that the decline of the department store has been ongoing for the last 50 years (Whitaker, 2013). This dissertation aims to understand how the department store has historically played a role in consumer culture and spending, and additionally, how this has evolved and changed in today’s retail market. Although department stores may not be able to take all the credit for inventing modern shopping, they certainly made its conventions and conveniences commonplace. They set a new standard for the way the consumer should expect to be treated, the type of services that should be provided, and the convenience that should attend the process of acquiring the necessities and niceties of life all in one place. They made shopping into a leisure pastime. This environment meant shopping was a means of freedom to look around, pick up objects with no obligations to buy. As one historian remarked, department stores: “encouraged a perception of the building as a public place, where consumption itself was almost incidental to the delights of a sheltered promenade in a densely crowded, middle-class urban space” (Whitaker, 2006). Although this perception and view of the department store has changed over the years, this paper aims to follow the trail of how and why that happened.
Tim Horton's is a typical Canadian coffee shop. By observing and interpreting this setting, we can understand Canadian culture as it's expressed in that setting. Understanding this small part of Canadian culture can then be applied, in a broader way, to the culture of Canadian society. A certain language that is special to customers of Tim Horton's serves a purpose that most are not aware of, big business is changing and confusing our traditional culture with a new culture that is run and concerned with money by large corporations. Canadians are generally friendly and polite to one another but are not community oriented, they are more individualistic.
...nguage, and religion all make up Canada’s human face, but also front how the cultural accommodation will continue with the risk of losing Canada’s main traditions. Faultlines again come into perspective within demographic issues, especially with newcomers/old-timers, aboriginal population expansions, and French/English language. The core/periphery model is also represented. The end of the chapter places a focus on Canada’s economic face as well, dealing with stresses inside the global economy as well as its strong dependency on the U.S markets (Bone, 169) especially with the stimulating global recession. Canada’s economic structure leans on the relative share of activity in the primary (natural resource extraction), secondary (raw material assembly), tertiary (sale/exchange of goods and services), and quaternary (decision-making) sectors of the economy (Bone, 166).
SCHNEIDER, Howard. (1997). "Canada's Culture War Questioned." The Washington Post Company. Online at: , consulted on February 9, 2004.
Bennet, P.; Cornelius J.; and Brune, N. Canada: A North American Nation. Second Edition ed. Canada: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited, 1995.
O DODSON, Edward. “Canada: an idea that must survive”. Online at: http://www.uni.ca/livreouvert/dodson_e.html , consulted on February 9, 2004.
In the last 20 years the penetration of the Canadian market by American cultural industries is still extremely strong. The United States is still the main source of culture products. American products represent 81% of all culture commodity imports. Canadians watch American TV shows, listen to American music, love American sports teams, drive American cars and buy American goods at American stores like Walmart. They eat American food, drink American beer (sometimes).
Holt Renfrew, known today as Canada’s elite high end retailer started out as a simple hat and fur shop in 1837 Quebec City. Offering top quality cosmetic brands and fashion designers, both local and imported (Prada, Gucci, Armani, etc.) , Holt Renfrew provides a uniquely upscale shopping experience for both Canadian men and women. Operating ten stores in Canada, Holt Renfrew offers everything from classics to the most current trends in fashion. Holt Renfrew’s main customer base is high end.
Nordstrom’s retail positioning strategy provides it with the competitive edge it needs to differentiate it from competitors who also serve similar markets.
Thomas, David M.. Canada and the United States: differences that count. Third ed. Toronto: Broadview Press, 2008.
Krahn, Lowe, Hughes (2008) Work, Industry, & Canadian Society. (5th ed.) Toronto, ON: Nelson Education Ltd.
I wasn’t born in Atlantic Canada but Atlantic Canadian business certainly has had an impact on my life. My father has worked for McCain Foods for over 25 years and is currently employed as the Retail Area Sales Manager, Atlantic Canada for McCain Foods so it’s no coincidence that I was born in Kitchener Waterloo just forty minutes from Sobeys Ontario’s head office which was located in Brantford Ontario and my sister in St. John’s N.L. just two years later. I guess we moved a lot in those early years, if you call six moves in 14 years a lot, but McCain was growing and McCain always promoted from within wherever possible. In this paper I will discuss some of the reasons I feel Atlantic Canadians play such an important role in Canadian business and what motivates them. I’ll draw on some of my own personal observations as well as others from reference materials.
Whenever we go out shopping or relaxing at malls, we actually don’t see or recognize any effects of malls as we mostly go there for these two reasons. Malls are an integral part in the lives of America. They are shopping centers that have created a lot of buzz in many writers. This is because we have more malls in America than high schools. Malls have received praises from people like James J. Farrell, Jon Pahl and George Lewis who view malls as not only shopping centers but also as places that provide a reflection of the American culture and serve as centers of pleasure and entertainment. In contrast, William Kowinski and David Gutterson criticize malls for just being an artificial environment that creates disorientation among American shoppers. In my opinion, malls are just magnificent commercial buildings that create a sense of false dreams and imagination.
As Alvin Toffler once said, “The wider any culture is spread, the thinner it gets”1. Such holds true for the American culture, which is not only a dominating factor in its own internal market and known domestically but also a dictating force in countries around the world on the global scale, and the first on their list – Canada. This issue of cultural imperialism is touched upon by Gaëtan Tremblay in his article, “Is Quebec Culture Doomed to Become American?”