{"product_id":"cornering-the-market-independent-grocers-and-innovation-in-american-small-business-paperback","title":"Cornering the Market: Independent Grocers and Innovation in American Small Business - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eSusan V. Spellman\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn popular stereotypes, local grocers were avuncular men who spent their days in pickle-barrel conversations and checkers games; they were backward small-town merchants resistant to modernizing impulses. \u003cem\u003eCornering the Market \u003c\/em\u003echallenges these conventions to demonstrate that nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century grocers were important but unsung innovators of business models and retail technologies that fostered the rise of contemporary retailing. Small grocery owners revolutionized business practices from the bottom by becoming the first retailers to own and operate cash registers, develop new distribution paths, and engage in transforming the grocery trade from local enterprises to a nationwide industry. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDrawing on storekeepers' diaries, business ledgers and documents, and the letters of merchants, wholesalers, traveling men, and consumers, Susan V. Spellman details the remarkable achievements of American small businessmen, and their major contributions to the making of \"modern\" enterprise in the United States. The development of mass production, distribution, and marketing, the growth of regional and national markets, and the introduction of new organizational and business methods fundamentally changed the structures of American capitalism. Within the walls of their stores, proprietors confronted these changes by crafting solutions centered on notions of efficiency, scale, and price control. Without abandoning local ties, they turned social concepts of community into commercial profitability. It was a powerful combination that businesses from chain stores to Walmart continue to exploit today.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSusan V. Spellman\u003c\/strong\u003e is Associate Professor of History at Miami University. Born and raised in Ohio, she spent several years working in the retail grocery trade as a cashier, produce clerk, stocker, and bagger before pursuing academics. Her work has been published in \u003cem\u003eEnterprise \u0026amp; Society\u003c\/em\u003e and the \u003cem\u003eJournal of Popular Culture\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 242\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.5 x 9.1 x 6.1 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e October 01, 2020\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42162151587975,"sku":"9780197545997","price":63.25,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0601\/2623\/2711\/files\/e16acc3b6c9b80fa3104a27c239136c8.webp?v=1733287046","url":"https:\/\/booksby.splitshops.com\/products\/cornering-the-market-independent-grocers-and-innovation-in-american-small-business-paperback","provider":"Books by splitShops","version":"1.0","type":"link"}