In 1838 Aristide Boucicaut opened the Bon Marche store in Paris that eventually evolved into the first department store by 1852. The Bon Marche displayed a wide variety of goods that were categorized (obviously) in "departments" all under one roof at a fixed price (no bartering like in the general stores). Plus there was one added feature.. a "money-back guarantee" allowing for exchanges and refunds. The Bon Marche (believe it or not) employed up to 4,000 employees and had daily sales of $300,000.In addition, like most departments stores or malls today...the Bon Marche had a restaurant.
In New York, Alexander Turney Stewart build his Marble Palace at Broadway and Chambers Street in 1848. It was a much larger version of his dry goods store. The Marble Palace (among other things) imported European merchandise for women and offered the first "fashion show"
In 1862, Stewart build an even larger department store. Made out of cast iron, it was located on 2.5 acres and employed 2,000 people. The great glass dome skylight covered the central area of the grand emporium.
One would think that the marketing skills of that era were inferior but in addition to the aforementioned fashion shows and restaurants...Stewart also had full length mirrors for women to look at the items completely before they purchased them and an organ musician to entertain them. The purpose of this was that the women could literally spend an entire day at the Marble Palace (and other department stores like it) and thus spend more money!
Excellent marketing skills!
