Description
Book SynopsisThis book addresses the unresolved question of how urban retailing and consumption changed during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It replaces the usual focus on just one (type of) shopping institution with that of the urban shopping landscape in its entirety. Based on secondary sources for comparable cities and an in-depth empirical analysis of primary sources for Brussels, the author demonstrates that the unbridled commercialisation of cities in the nineteenth century cannot be understood without taking into account the entirety of the shopping landscape. Through a quantitative and qualitative analysis, she shows how and why the culture and spaces of shopping evolved.
Table of ContentsContents;List of Figures ;List of Maps ;List of Tables ;Acknowledgements ;List of Abbreviations;Setting up shop. Introduction;1 Bursting blossoms. Brussels shops & shopping, 1830s;Late bloom;Portrait of a town;Sequences and dots;The shop and its keeper;Around the corner; 2 Shopping in style. The Galeries Saint-Hubert and the Chaussée;Brussels when it sizzles;A site of modernity;hopping in ‘space’;Close encounters;Conclusion: a site of modernity? ;3 Cleaning house. Markets and halls;Chronicle of a demise foretold?; Under pressure;The best laid plans;Exploring shadows;Conclusion: divide and conquer; 4 Bigger and brighter. Downtown and the department store;Noah’s ark;Department stores in Brussels;Location, location, location;A frenzy for more;Conclusion: shopping on speed; 5 Shopping Galore. Brussels shops & shopping, 1910s;Full bloom;Portrait of a city: Belle Epoque Brussels;Density and diversity;Conclusion: shopping galore; 6 Closing time. Conclusion;Bibliography ;Appendix 1 ; Appendix 2; Index
