retail

History has paid little attention to Bridget Kennedy, JFK’s widowed great-grandmother, who managed both her family and business in Boston's anti-Irish climate.

Built on the momentum of earlier struggles for justice, the department store movement channeled the power of workers and consumers to promote black freedom.

The recent panic over retail theft reveals tensions at the heart of American consumerism.

They’re hip, business-savvy, and know how to cast a spell: How a new generation of witches and warlocks selling $300 wands conquered Salem.

Over the 20th century, capitalism preserved its momentum by molding the ordinary person into a consumer with an unquenchable thirst for more stuff.

A brief history of the Yuletide in America.

The rise and fall of the Brooks Brothers name.

The mob saw an opportunity. Local 338 had other ideas.

Architectural history in an era of capitalist ruin.

How mail-order catalogues subverted the racial hierarchy of Jim Crow.

Private-labeled teas helped fund success during the suffragist movement. Today’s activists might learn from their model.

Connecting the dots between discriminatory housing policies in the 1930s and urban food insecurity today.

How does Hammacher Schlemmer, famous for such eccentric products as the Navigable Water Park, continue to survive in the age of Amazon?

Trump says Amazon is scamming the USPS. But its low shipping rates were a game changer for rural America.

How do museum gift shops at Civil War sites shape historical memory?

Rosie the Riveter wasn’t the only woman who pitched in on the homefront.

Small businesses enjoy an iconic status in modern capitalism, but what do they really contribute to the economy?

Buying a necktie for your dad is a stereotypical way to celebrate Father's Day, but it's in keeping with the holiday's history.

Tracing the evolution of Christmas from a drunken carnival to the peaceful, family-oriented, consumeristic ritual we celebrate today.

America's first mall was designed as an insular utopia, providing shelter and a controlled environment during uncertain times.

When City Radio opened on NYC's Cortlandt Street in 1921, radio was a novelty. Over the next few decades, hundreds of stores popped up in the neighborhood.

A look back at the men, women and machines that made America’s favorite treat possible.

Considering a novel as a whole, rather than as the sum of its parts, was an approach favored by mid-20th-century literary critics. It was also useful for fighting book bans.

In the 1980s and 1990s, PC Connection built its brand on a campaign starring folksy small-town critters. They’ll still charm your socks off.

When Barney's is selling Black Sabbath shirts for $175, does it change the cultural credibility of your favorite vintage band tee?

How a federal policy change in the 1980s created the modern food desert.

The story of suffragist Matilda Gage, the woman behind the curtain whose life story captivated her son-in-law L. Frank Baum as he wrote his classic novel.

In the 1920s, advertisers tried to convince women to exercise their political power not only at the ballot box but also in the store.

In the forty-eight years that she’s lived in the West Village, the owner of the iconic cookbook shop has never ordered delivery.

On Hitler’s attempt to win Americans over to his cause.