The book traces the origins of the department store in the cities of northern Britain, the impact of Parisian grand magasins upon British stores after 1870 and the development of the large London stores. The importance of Gordon Selfridge upon British retailing is highlighted, drawing attention to his background as manager of Chicago's Marshall Field's.

The ambiguous role of women in the large stores is examined in the key areas of economics, sexuality and politics. Department store entrepreneurs established highly successful paternalistic systems of industrial relations and the experience of workers in these regimes forms an important chapter in this study.

The volume concludes with a survey of department stores since 1945 and how they have met the challenges set by urban dislocation, the ending of retail price maintenance, shifts in consumer income distribution and the emergence of the shopping mall.