The American Grocery Store: The Business Evolution of an Architectural Space

When people think of a grocery store, they have a multitude of images from a neighborhood shop on the corner to the modern-day supermarket. The grocery store has had a rich history, as business conditions have contributed to changes in both its economic and its architectural character. This book provides a history of the grocery store. Beginning with the public markets and general stores of our early cities and the general stores of small towns and hinterlands, this volume traces the evolution of the all-purpose grocery store with the advent of mass distribution, the growth of the supermarket, and the present-day convenience stores, co-ops, warehouse markets, hypermarkets, and wholesale clubs.

JAMES M. MAYO is a Professor in the School of Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Kansas. He is the author of War Memorials as Political Landscape (Praeger, 1988).