Description

Book Synopsis
Patented in 1917, Piggly Wiggly was the most influential self-service store of the early twentieth century. This book reveals the importance of Piggly Wiggly in the invention of self-service and goes beyond the history of the firm to explore the role of small business entrepreneurs who invented self-service stores in a grassroots social process.

Trade Review
Beyond Piggly Wiggly is a cultural history of self-service that reveals how grocers and other stakeholders invested time and money into convincing consumers that doing the literal heavy lifting of shopping was both economically advantageous and socially and culturally acceptable (and sometimes even preferred). Lisa C. Tolbert shows how through trial and error local grocers refined self-service, shifting grocery stores from human-dependent food distribution depots to 'systems for automatic selling." - Susan V. Spellman, author of Cornering the Market: Independent Grocers and Innovation in American Small Business

Beyond Piggly Wiggly Inventing the American

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    A Paperback by Lisa C. Tolbert

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    RRP £28.95 – you save £1.45 (5%)

    Order before 4pm on Monday for delivery by Wed 11 Nov 2026.

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      Book details

      Publisher LUP - University of Georgia Press
      Published 8 January 2023
      ISBN-13 9780820364414
      978-0820364414
      ISBN-10 082036441X
      Also in:
      Market research

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      Patented in 1917, Piggly Wiggly was the most influential self-service store of the early twentieth century. This book reveals the importance of Piggly Wiggly in the invention of self-service and goes beyond the history of the firm to explore the role of small business entrepreneurs who invented self-service stores in a grassroots social process.

      Trade Review
      Beyond Piggly Wiggly is a cultural history of self-service that reveals how grocers and other stakeholders invested time and money into convincing consumers that doing the literal heavy lifting of shopping was both economically advantageous and socially and culturally acceptable (and sometimes even preferred). Lisa C. Tolbert shows how through trial and error local grocers refined self-service, shifting grocery stores from human-dependent food distribution depots to 'systems for automatic selling." - Susan V. Spellman, author of Cornering the Market: Independent Grocers and Innovation in American Small Business

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