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Retail revolution and the village shop, c. 1660–1860

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  • Jon Stobart
  • Lucy Bailey

Abstract

Village shops have been largely overlooked in the recent literature on British retailing in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, which has sought to redefine the parameters and timing of retail transformation. While urban shops have been explored in detail, often in ways that highlight their role in a parallel transformation in consumption patterns, little attempt has been made to look inside village shops or examine the character and practices of rural retailers. This article addresses this lacuna and offers fresh insights into the shifting position of village shops in these broader economic, business, and social changes. Taking a long view of the period c. 1660–1860, it draws on a wide range of sources to examine the stock sold and the degree of specialization exhibited by village shops, and the changing trading practices of village shopkeepers, including the provision of credit, the pricing of goods, and marketing activities. In doing so, the article highlights both long†term continuities and important innovations of the type that also characterize urban shops, and argues that village shops, while central to rural social and economic networks, were also intimately bound into broader retail systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Jon Stobart & Lucy Bailey, 2018. "Retail revolution and the village shop, c. 1660–1860," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 71(2), pages 393-417, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:ehsrev:v:71:y:2018:i:2:p:393-417
    DOI: 10.1111/ehr.12531
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Christina Fowler, 1998. "Changes in Provincial Retail Practice during the Eighteenth Century, with Particular Reference to Central-Southern England," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(4), pages 37-54.
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    3. Vries,Jan de, 2008. "The Industrious Revolution," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521719254, September.
    4. Jon Stobart & Andrew Hann, 2004. "Retailing Revolution in the Eighteenth Century? Evidence from North-West England," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(2), pages 171-194.
    5. Barker, Hannah, 2006. "The Business of Women: Female Enterprise and Urban Development in Northern England 1760-1830," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199299713.
    6. Vries,Jan de, 2008. "The Industrious Revolution," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521895026, September.
    7. Ian Mitchell, 2007. "The changing role of fairs in the long eighteenth century: evidence from the north midlands1," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 60(3), pages 545-573, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Henning Bovenkerk & Christine Fertig, 2023. "Consumer revolution in north‐western Germany: Material culture, global goods, and proto‐industry in rural households in the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 76(2), pages 551-574, May.
    2. Alexander Wakelam, 2023. "Assessing female accountability in the long eighteenth century through debt imprisonment," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 76(2), pages 575-598, May.

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