Discount Stores
A discount store is a departmentalized retail operation that sells at prices substantially lower than conventional retailers. To offset the lower prices, expenses are kept down by minimizing free customer services, maximizing the use of self-service, and using inexpensive fixtures, decorations, and displays. In addition, improvement of operational efficiency is continually sought to control costs. Modern discount stores typically sell a mix of hard goods (e.g., refrigerators, televisions) and soft goods (e.g., apparel) and other general merchandise.
Discount stores evolved from a series of retailing changes that began in the United States in the late nineteenth century. Following the Civil War, the development of mass-production processes and a mass-distribution system, along with population increases, paved the way for a new approach to retailing—mass merchandising. The first type of mass-merchandising operation was the department store. The second was the chain store, which included variety stores and "junior department stores." The third was the mail-order house. These patterns for mass merchandising remained relatively constant through the 1920s.
The Great Depression of the 1930s and the accompanying economic hardships set the stage for another retailing change and the beginning of discount operations. Grocery supermarkets, the fourth type of mass-merchandising operation, appeared in 1930.
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