Stores, General
STORES, GENERAL
STORES, GENERAL, have been characterized by their great variety of goods and services. From colonial times through much of the nineteenth century, they constituted the typical retail unit; but in 1967 they made up less than 50,000 of the 1,763,324 retail units in the United States, and by the end of the century their numbers had been reduced still further. In their heyday general stores that were owned and operated by individuals or partners quickly followed peddlers into newly occupied regions. To survive in such limited markets, storekeepers sold great varieties of merchandise to customers, marketed crops taken in trade, operated local post offices, and provided credit and elementary banking services. Many did ultimately turn to banking, manufacturing, processing farm crops, or other specialized business services. General stores thus met an economic need at a vital stage of community development, and they also served as training schools for people who would ultimately concentrate on more specialized commercial enterprises.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Atherton, Lewis E. The Frontier Merchant in Mid-America. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1971.
Jones, Fred M. Middlemen in the Domestic Trade of the United States, 1800–1860. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1937.
Lewis E.Atherton/a. r.
See alsoConsumerism ; Country Store ; Pharmacy .