Editing Department store (section)

{{Short description|Retail establishment}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
[[File:Bon Marché, Paris - interior view.JPG|thumb|Interior of {{Lang|fr|[[Le Bon Marché]]|italic=no}} in Paris (2008)]]
A '''department store''' is a [[retail]] establishment offering a wide range of [[consumer goods]] in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category.  In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic appearance in the middle of the 19th century, and permanently reshaped shopping habits, and the definition of service and luxury. Similar developments were under way in [[London]] (with [[Whiteleys]]), in [[Paris]] ({{Lang|fr|[[Le Bon Marché]]|italic=no}}) and in [[New York City]] ([[Alexander Turney Stewart|Stewart's]]).<ref>Gunther Barth, "The Department Store," in ''City People: The Rise of Modern City Culture in Nineteenth-Century America.'' (Oxford University Press, 1980) pp 110–47,</ref>

Today, departments often include the following: clothing, cosmetics, [[do it yourself]], [[furniture]], gardening, hardware, [[home appliance]]s, [[Household goods|houseware]], paint, sporting goods, toiletries, and toys. Additionally, other lines of products such as food, books, jewellery, electronics, [[stationery]], [[Photography|photographic]] equipment, baby products, and products for pets are sometimes included. Customers generally check out near the front of the store in [[Discount store|discount department stores]], while high-end traditional department stores include sales counters within each department. Some stores are one of many within a larger [[retail chain]], while others are an independent retailer.

Since the 1980s, they have come under heavy pressure from discounters, and have come under even heavier pressure from [[e-commerce]] sites since the 2000s.
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