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
Postrel develops her support of national retailers throughout the essay, offering the opinion that it isn’t the stores that give places their character, but instead, aspects like the terrain, weather and culture that do (Postrel 347). While terrain, weather and culture can set apart regions, such as New England from The Deep South, and Southern California from the Midwest, it’s the community that gives each town their own special character. A community consists of the residents, their restaurants, hardware stores, pharmacies, ice cream parlors, farmers markets, and so on. These places, and the interactions that occur daily at each establishment, are the fabric that differentiate them, and create the breeding ground for diverse characteristics to flourish. While Postrel argues that wildly different business establishments across America in the past is a myth , it’s actually not necessarily that the products that varied from store to store, but more the aforementioned factors that truly set ...
‘Roots Nationalism’ was a product of the globalizing world economy, of the growing emphasis on branded clothing and lifestyles, and of the particularities of the national crisis in Canada” (Carstairs 2012). This statement clearly argues that the brand ‘Roots’ created Canadian identity and used it as a mechanism to sell their product. Carstairs also mentioned that “over the past two decades, Roots, along with other companies such as Molson (a beer company whose leading brand, Canadian, features a maple leaf) and Tim Hortons (a chain of coffee and doughnut shops created by Canadian hockey great Tim Horton that capitalizes on Canadians’ love of doughnuts and coffee) has created a new type of branded nationalism in Canada” as this can be called stereotypes of Canadian lifestyle and using Canadian symbols to promote and sell products (Carstairs 2012). Furthermore, in 1983, “Roots was declared a good example of how a very human-orientated business can be carried on in the 80’s through integrity, quality and honestly” as this just shows how beneficial it is for people to have Roots merchandise through the manipulation of branding using nationalism (Patricia
The retail industry is an important indicator for the overall situation of the Canadian economy. Being one of the biggest employers, according to the latest census conducted in 2011, it was ranked first in terms of share of total employment at 11.5%, with more than 1.9 million workers, which clearly demonstrates the strength of the sector.
Is Canada a nation or has its control just switched empirical hands? As Professor Hutcheson asked, did Canada go from "Colony to Nation or Empire to Empire?" This question has greatly influenced Canada's changing identity since her birth as a British colony with Confederation in 1867 to the present day. The purpose of this essay is to critically analyse the shifting Canadian identities between the years 1890 to 1960. The objective is to illustrate Canada's transforming identity by using the novels The Imperialist by Sara Jeanette Duncan, Barometer Rising by Hugh MacLennan, and Fifth Business by Robertson Davies and to connect the stories of each of these works of fiction to the varying political, economic, and social issues of their times. Each book is written by a prominent author, and portrays an accurate reflection of the demanding political, economic, and social concerns throughout the late nineteen and first half of the twentieth century of Canadian history. All of the novels reflect Canada's peripheral view of the world, as opposed to a central point of view, because throughout its history Canada has always been perceived as a secondary player. As George Grant says in his literary piece Lament for a Nation, Canada is "a branch plant society" , meaning Canada is controlled by another power. The essential question is where has Canada's loyalties traditionally lay and how has this shaped the Canadian identity. The Imperialist by Sara Jeanette Duncan, written in 1904 reflects a very British influenced Canada. At this time, Canada is still a British colony under British rule, and the people of Canada are very content to consider themselves British. The novel predominately ill...
Friesen goes on to explain the development of this association between the brand and Nation through the experiences of different consumers. One customer reminisces about his childhood trips to Tim Hortons, for ‘post hockey game’ donuts and hot chocolate, and considers it a place frequented by one
Lister Sinclair’s pamphlet Change Comes to Canada was distributed at the Canadian Government Pavilion during Expo 67. Sinclair looks at the meaning of the name Canada. She analyses common points in people’s daily lives such as the meaning of ‘our home and native land,’ Canadian history, Canadian resources, transportation, climate and culture that tie each Canadian together. She claims that “every Canadian who thinks about Canada has his own idea about the meaning of that dream.” She argues that there is no actual national identity but individual identities that made up our national identity. She challenges the questions related to a national identity. It is interesting that something that questions the national identity would be distributed at Expo 67; but, it provides in...
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.
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)
Thompson, John Herd, and Mark Paul Richard. "Canadian History in North American Context." In Canadian studies in the new millennium. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2008. 37-64.
Krahn, Lowe, Hughes (2008) Work, Industry, & Canadian Society. (5th ed.) Toronto, ON: Nelson Education Ltd.
Nordstrom’s retail positioning strategy provides it with the competitive edge it needs to differentiate it from competitors who also serve similar markets.
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.
Much has been written about the ways in which Canada's state as a nation is, as Peter Harcourt writes, "described" and hence, "imagined" (Harcourt, "The Canadian Nation -- An Unfinished Text", 6) through the cultural products that it produces. Harcourt's terms are justifiably elusive. The familiar concept of "Canadian culture", and hence Canadian cinema, within critical terminology is essentially based on the principle that the ideology of a national identity, supposedly limited by such tangible parameters as lines on a map, emerges from a common geographical and mythological experience among its people. The concept that cultural products produced in Canada will be somehow innately "Canadian" in form and content first presupposes the existence of such things as inherently Canadian qualities that can be observed. Second, it presupposes a certain commonality to all Canadian artists and posits them as vessels through which these said "inherently Canadian qualities" can naturally flow. Third, it also assumes the loosely Lacanian principle that Canadian consumers of culture are predisposed to identify and enjoy the semiotic and mythological systems of their nation, and further connotes that Canadians have fair access to their own cultural products. Since these assumptions are indeed flawed but not altogether false, this paper will deal with the general relationship between the concept of Canada, its cultural texts, and its mythological and critical discourse as an unresolved problematic that should be left "open" in order to maximize the "meaning potential" of films as cultural texts within the context of "national identity," an ideological construct that remains constantly in flux.
Canada’s own identity starts with our remarkable sense of culture and customs. For the native peoples, the Canadian identity stretches thousands of years into the search of struggles to retain elements of their ancient culture. From a colonial perspective, the traditions which surface in Canadian culture seem to be born of an earlier time, of different origins and places, of old-fashioned rituals, and customs. Unlike the United States, its senior neighbor, Canada’s aged-like identity is more reserved and skillful, unwilling to commit it self to anything specific. Within each region of Canada-
A sociological observation was conducted at York dale Toronto shopping center and food court at various time intervals. There were different spectres of ethnicity and different ways people acted. I chose this mall because it is one of the largest malls in Canada and the problem of reactivity could be avoided.