Retail Nation: Department Stores and the Making of Modern Canada
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by Donica Belisle
Donica Belisle’s Retail Nation is a critical exploration of the role played by Canada’s major national retailers in modernizing Canada during the period of 1890 to 1940.
Belisle offers a comparative look at the policies and practices of the Hudson’s Bay Company, Eaton’s, and Simpsons with respect to marketing, advertising, competition, and labour relations as well as their influence on Canadians’ attitudes toward nationalism and consumerism.
Although she does much to deconstruct the myth of these titanic Canadian companies as nation builders, her book offers plenty of stories, photographs, illustrations, and reproductions to satisfy nostalgic readers who are interested in remembering the halcyon days of truly Canadian retail.
— Deborah Morrison (Read bio)
Deborah Morrison is the executive director of SEVEC and the former president and CEO of Canada’s History Society.