Department_store

context: Department stores today have sections that sell the following: clothing, furniture, home appliances, toys, cosmetics, gardening, toiletries, sporting goods, do it yourself, paint, and hardware and additionally select other lines of products such as food, books, jewelry, electronics, stationery, photographic equipment, baby products, and products for pets. Customers check out near the front of the store or, alternatively, at sales counters within each department. Some are part of a retail chain of many stores, while others may be independent retailers. In the 1970s, they came under heavy pressure from discounters. Since 2010, they have come under even heavier pressure from online stores such as Amazon.
qas: answers: text: clothing, furniture, home appliances, toys, cosmetics, gardening, toiletries, sporting goods
question: What sorts of departments might one see in a major department store?

answers: text: discounters
question: Who started influencing department stores in the 1970's? 

answers: text: online stores such as Amazon.
question: What has begun pressuring department stores in more recent years?

answers: text: at sales counters within each department.
question: Other than at the check-out lanes at the front of a store, where may customers check out?

context: The origins of the department store lay in the growth of the conspicuous consumer society at the turn of the 19th century. As the Industrial Revolution accelerated economy expansion, the affluent middle-class grew in size and wealth. This urbanized social group, sharing a culture of consumption and changing fashion, was the catalyst for the retail revolution. As rising prosperity and social mobility increased the number of people, especially women (who found they could shop unaccompanied at department stores without damaging their reputation), with disposable income in the late Georgian period, window shopping was transformed into a leisure activity and entrepreneurs, like the potter Josiah Wedgwood, pioneered the use of marketing techniques to influence the prevailing tastes and preferences of society.
qas: answers: text: at the turn of the 19th century.
question: When did the idea of a "consumer society" begin? 

answers: text: the affluent middle-class
question: What social group grew as a result of the industrial revolution? 

answers: text: entrepreneurs
question: Who was Josiah Wedgewood?

answers: text: urbanized social group
question: What is one explanation for the rise of retail stores in earlier history?

answers: text: women
question: What group of people were suddenly free to go shopping without fears of being judged or reprimanded? 

context: All the major British cities had flourishing department stores by the mid-or late nineteenth century. Increasingly, women became the major shoppers and middle-class households. Kendals (formerly Kendal Milne & Faulkner) in Manchester lays claim to being one of the first department stores and is still known to many of its customers as Kendal's, despite its 2005 name change to House of Fraser. The Manchester institution dates back to 1836 but had been trading as Watts Bazaar since 1796. At its zenith the store had buildings on both sides of Deansgate linked by a subterranean passage "Kendals Arcade" and an art nouveau tiled food hall. The store was especially known for its emphasis on quality and style over low prices giving it the nickname "the Harrods of the North", although this was due in part to Harrods acquiring the store in 1919. Other large Manchester stores included Paulden's (currently Debenhams) and Lewis's (now a Primark).
qas: answers: text: women
question: Who became the predominant shoppers for individual households in the nineteenth century? 

answers: text: Kendals (formerly Kendal Milne & Faulkner)
question: What business in Manchester claims to be the first department store? 

answers: text: House of Fraser
question: What did Kendals change it's name to in 2005? 

answers: text: 1836
question: What year did the Manchester institution begin?

answers: text: Harrods
question: Who acquired the Manchester store in 1919? 

context: Selfridges was established in 1909 by American-born Harry Gordon Selfridge on Oxford Street. The company's innovative marketing promoted the radical notion of shopping for pleasure rather than necessity and its techniques were adopted by modern department stores the world over. The store was extensively promoted through paid advertising. The shop floors were structured so that goods could be made more accessible to customers. There were elegant restaurants with modest prices, a library, reading and writing rooms, special reception rooms for French, German, American and "Colonial" customers, a First Aid Room, and a Silence Room, with soft lights, deep chairs, and double-glazing, all intended to keep customers in the store as long as possible. Staff members were taught to be on hand to assist customers, but not too aggressively, and to sell the merchandise. Selfridge attracted shoppers with educational and scientific exhibits; – in 1909, Louis Blériot's monoplane was exhibited at Selfridges (Blériot was the first to fly over the English Channel), and the first public demonstration of television by John Logie Baird took place in the department store in 1925.
qas: answers: text: Harry Gordon Selfridge
question: Who founded Selfridges in 1909?

answers: text: the radical notion of shopping for pleasure rather than necessity
question: What made Selfridges different from many department stores at the time? 

answers: text: paid advertising
question: How was the store most often presented to the public? 

answers: text: shoppers with educational and scientific exhibits
question: What sort of customers did Selfridges most often cater to?

context: The Paris department store had its roots in the magasin de nouveautés, or novelty store; the first, the Tapis Rouge, was created in 1784. They flourished in the early 19th century, with La Belle Jardiniere (1824), Aux Trois Quartiers (1829), and Le Petit Saint Thomas (1830). Balzac described their functioning in his novel César Birotteau. In the 1840s, with the arrival of the railroads in Paris and the increased number of shoppers they brought, they grew in size, and began to have large plate glass display windows, fixed prices and price tags, and advertising in newspapers.
qas: answers: text: magasin de nouveautés
question: What were the origins of the Paris department store? 

answers: text: 1784
question: What year was the first Paris department store founded? 

answers: text: César Birotteau
question: What book described the functionality and operation of a contemporary Paris department/novelty store?

answers: text: the arrival of the railroads in Paris and the increased number of shoppers they brought
question: What factors influenced the increase of department stores in Paris? 

answers: text: newspapers
question: Where did department stores begin to advertise after the large influx of new shoppers?

context: A novelty shop called Au Bon Marché had been founded in Paris in 1838 to sell lace, ribbons, sheets, mattresses, buttons, umbrellas and other assorted goods. It originally had four departments, twelve employees, and a floor space of three hundred meters. The entrepreneur Aristide Boucicaut became a partner in 1852, and changed the marketing plan, instituting fixed prices and guarantees that allowed exchanges and refunds, advertising, and a much wider variety of merchandise. The annual income of the store increased from 500,000 francs in 1852 to five million in 1860. In 1869 he built much larger building at 24 rue de Sèvres on the Left Bank, and enlarged the store again in 1872, with help from the engineering firm of Gustave Eiffel, creator of the Eiffel Tower. The income rose from twenty million francs in 1870 to 72 million at the time of the Boucicaut's death in 1877. The floor space had increased from three hundred square meters in 1838 to fifty thousand, and the number of employees had increased from twelve in 1838 to 1788 in 1879. Boucicaut was famous for his marketing innovations; a reading room for husbands while their wives shopped; extensive newspaper advertising; entertainment for children; and six million catalogs sent out to customers. By 1880 half the employees were women; unmarried women employees lived in dormitories on the upper floors.
qas: answers: text: Au Bon Marché
question: What store was founded in Paris, in 1838, which sold a wide variety of products? 

answers: text: Aristide Boucicaut
question: Who became a partner to this store in 1852 and drastically changed operations?

answers: text: increased from 500,000 francs in 1852 to five million in 1860
question: What was the change in profit to Au Bon Marche after these changes? 

answers: text: Gustave Eiffel
question: What engineering company helped the store expand in 1872

answers: text: marketing innovations
question: What was Boucicaut most widely known for? 

context: The Grands Magasins Dufayel was a huge department store with inexpensive prices built in 1890 in the northern part of Paris, where it reached a very large new customer base in the working class. In a neighborhood with few public spaces, it provided a consumer version of the public square. It educated workers to approach shopping as an exciting social activity not just a routine exercise in obtaining necessities, just as the bourgeoisie did at the famous department stores in the central city. Like the bourgeois stores, it helped transform consumption from a business transaction into a direct relationship between consumer and sought-after goods. Its advertisements promised the opportunity to participate in the newest, most fashionable consumerism at reasonable cost. The latest technology was featured, such as cinemas and exhibits of inventions like X-ray machines (that could be used to fit shoes) and the gramophone.
qas: answers: text: the northern part of Paris
question: Where was The Grands Magasins Dufayel built? 

answers: text: exciting social activity not just a routine exercise in obtaining necessities
question: What were employees taught that made a shopping experience different? 

answers: text: bourgeois stores
question: What sort of stores were The Grands Magasins Dufayel compared to? 

answers: text: transform consumption from a business transaction into a direct relationship between consumer and sought-after goods
question: How were these stores different than most during that time?

context: Arnold, Constable was the first American department store. It was founded in 1825 by Aaron Arnold (1794?-1876), an emigrant from Great Britain, as a small dry goods store on Pine Street in New York City. In 1857 the store moved into a five-story white marble dry goods palace known as the Marble House. During the Civil War Arnold, Constable was one of the first stores to issue charge bills of credit to its customers each month instead of on a bi-annual basis. Recognized as an emporium for high-quality fashions, the store soon outgrew the Marble House and erected a cast-iron building on Broadway and Nineteenth Street in 1869; this “Palace of Trade” expanded over the years until it was necessary to move into a larger space in 1914. In 1925, Arnold, Constable merged with Stewart & Company and expanded into the suburbs, first with a 1937 store in New Rochelle, New York and later in Hempstead and Manhasset on Long Island, and in New Jersey. Financial problems led to bankruptcy in 1975.
qas: answers: text: Arnold, Constable
question: What is recognized as the "first" department store in America?

answers: text: Aaron Arnold
question: Who founded Arnold, Constable? 

answers: text: a five-story white marble dry goods palace known as the Marble House.
question: Where was the store moved in 1857?

answers: text: was one of the first stores to issue charge bills of credit to its customers each month instead of on a bi-annual basis
question: What made Arnold, Constable stand out from other stores during the civil war? 

answers: text: 1869
question: When was the "Palace of Trade" built? 

context: In New York City in 1846, Alexander Turney Stewart established the "Marble Palace" on Broadway, between Chambers and Reade streets. He offered European retail merchandise at fixed prices on a variety of dry goods, and advertised a policy of providing "free entrance" to all potential customers. Though it was clad in white marble to look like a Renaissance palazzo, the building's cast iron construction permitted large plate glass windows that permitted major seasonal displays, especially in the Christmas shopping season. In 1862, Stewart built a new store on a full city block with eight floors and nineteen departments of dress goods and furnishing materials, carpets, glass and china, toys and sports equipment, ranged around a central glass-covered court. His innovations included buying from manufacturers for cash and in large quantities, keeping his markup small and prices low, truthful presentation of merchandise, the one-price policy (so there was no haggling), simple merchandise returns and cash refund policy, selling for cash and not credit, buyers who searched worldwide for quality merchandise, departmentalization, vertical and horizontal integration, volume sales, and free services for customers such as waiting rooms and free delivery of purchases. His innovations were quickly copied by other department stores.
qas: answers: text: on Broadway, between Chambers and Reade streets
question: Where was the "Marble Palace" built in 1846?

answers: text: "free entrance" to all potential customers.
question: What policy did the Marble Palace introduce? 

answers: text: nineteen
question: How many departments did the new store have, built in 1862?

answers: text: cash and not credit
question: What selling methods did the Marble Palace use?

answers: text: waiting rooms and free delivery of purchases
question: What customer services did the Marble Palace offer? 

context: In 1877, John Wanamaker opened the United State's first modern department store in a former Pennsylvania Railroad freight terminal in Philadelphia. Wanamakers was the first department store to offer fixed prices marked on every article and also introduced electrical illumination (1878), the telephone (1879), and the use of pneumatic tubes to transport cash and documents (1880) to the department store business. Subsequent department stores founded in Philadelphia included Strawbridge and Clothier, Gimbels, Lit Brothers, and Snellenbergs.
qas: answers: text: John Wanamaker
question: Who opened the original "modern" department store in America?

answers: text: fixed prices marked on every article
question: What feature made Wanamakers different from other stores at the time? 

answers: text: pneumatic tubes
question: How were important documents and money transported throughout the store? 

answers: text: 1878
question: When was electric lighting first installed and used in the store? 

answers: text: Pennsylvania
question: In what state was Wanamakers established? 

context: Marshall Field & Company originated in 1852. It was the premier department store on the main shopping street in the Midwest, State Street in Chicago. Upscale shoppers came by train from throughout the region, patronizing nearby hotels. It grew to become a major chain before converting to the Macy's nameplate on 9 September 2006. Marshall Field's Served as a model for other departments stores in that it had exceptional customer service. Field's also brought with it the now famous Frango mints brand that became so closely identified with Marshall Field's and Chicago from the now defunct Frederick & Nelson Department store. Marshall Field's also had the firsts, among many innovations by Marshall Field's. Field's had the first European buying office, which was located in Manchester, England, and the first bridal registry. The company was the first to introduce the concept of the personal shopper, and that service was provided without charge in every Field's store, until the chain's last days under the Marshall Field's name. It was the first store to offer revolving credit and the first department store to use escalators. Marshall Field's book department in the State Street store was legendary; it pioneered the concept of the "book signing." Moreover, every year at Christmas, Marshall Field's downtown store windows were filled with animated displays as part of the downtown shopping district display; the "theme" window displays became famous for their ingenuity and beauty, and visiting the Marshall Field's windows at Christmas became a tradition for Chicagoans and visitors alike, as popular a local practice as visiting the Walnut Room with its equally famous Christmas tree or meeting "under the clock" on State Street.
qas: answers: text: 1852
question: In what year was Marshall Field and company established? 

answers: text: 9 September 2006
question: When did Marshall's convert to the Macy's name? 

answers: text: exceptional customer service
question: What made Marshall's such a good example for other stores?

answers: text: Manchester, England
question: Where was Marshall's European buying office located? 

answers: text: personal shopper
question: What free service did Marshall's provide customers until changing their name to Macy's? 

context: David Jones was started by David Jones, a Welsh merchant who met Hobart businessman Charles Appleton in London. Appleton established a store in Sydney in 1825 and Jones subsequently established a partnership with Appleton, moved to Australia in 1835, and the Sydney store became known as Appleton & Jones. When the partnership was dissolved in 1838, Jones moved his business to premises on the corner of George Street and Barrack Lane, Sydney. David Jones claims to be the oldest department store in the world still trading under its original name.
qas: answers: text: merchant
question: What occupation did David Jones have?

answers: text: in London
question: Where did David Jones and Charles Appleton meet? 

answers: text: Sydney
question: Where did Appleton begin a store in 1825?

answers: text: Appleton & Jones
question: What was the store in Sydney called after Jones moved to Australia? 

answers: text: 1838
question: When did the partnership between Jones and Appleton end?

context: Although there were a number of department stores in Australia for much of the 20th Century, including chains such as Grace Bros. and Waltons, many disappeared during the 1980s and 1990s. Today Myer and David Jones, located nationally, are practically the national department stores duopoly in Australia. When Russian-born migrant, Sidney Myer, came to Australia in 1899 he formed the Myer retail group with his brother, Elcon Myer. In 1900, they opened the first Myer department store, in Bendigo, Victoria. Since then, the Myer retail group has grown to be Australia's largest retailer. Both, Myer and David Jones, are up-market chains, offering a wide variety of products from mid-range names to luxury brands. Other retail chain stores such as Target (unrelated to the American chain of the same name), Venture (now defunct), Kmart and Big W, also located nationally, are considered to be Australia's discount department stores. Harris Scarfe, though only operating in four states and one territory, is a department store using both the large full-line and small discount department store formats. Most department stores in Australia have their own credit card companies, each having their own benefits while the discount department stores do not have their own credit card rights.
qas: answers: text: Grace Bros. and Waltons
question: What were some of the original Australian department stores? 

answers: text: 1899
question: When did Sydney Myer come to Australia? 

answers: text: Bendigo, Victoria
question: Where did the Myer Retail Group open it's first store? 

answers: text: up-market chains
question: What type of department stores are Myer and David Jones? 

answers: text: Venture
question: What department store brand is now out of business in Australia? 

context: From its origins in the fur trade, the Hudson's Bay Company is the oldest corporation in North America and was the largest department store operator in Canada until the mid-1980s, with locations across the country. It also previously owned Zellers, another major Canadian department store which ceased to exist in March 2013 after selling its lease holdings to Target Canada. Other department stores in Canada are: Canadian Tire, Sears Canada, Ogilvy, Les Ailes de la Mode, Giant Tiger, Co-op, Costco and Holt Renfrew. Grocery giant Superstores carry many non-grocery items akin to a department store. Woolco had 160 stores in Canada when operations ceased (Walmart bought out Woolco in 1994). Today low-price Walmart is by far the most dominant department store retailer in Canada with outlets throughout the country. Historically, department stores were a significant component in Canadian economic life, and chain stores such as Eaton's, Charles Ogilvy Limited, Freiman's, Spencer's, Simpsons, Morgan's, and Woodward's were staples in their respective communities. Department stores in Canada are similar in design and style to department stores in the United States.
qas: answers: text: the fur trade
question: What business was the Hudson's Bay Company originally involved in? 

answers: text: Zellers
question: What department store chain did Hudson's Bay Company own until it dissolved in 2013?

answers: text: 160
question: How many stores did Woolco operate before selling their shares to Walmart? 

answers: text: Walmart
question: Currently, what department store is most popular in Canada? 

context: Before the 1950s, the department store held an eminent place in both Canada and Australia, during both the Great Depression and World War II. Since then, they have suffered from strong competition from specialist stores. Most recently the competition has intensified with the advent of larger-scale superstores (Jones et al. 1994; Merrilees and Miller 1997). Competition was not the only reason for the department stores' weakening strength; the changing structure of cities also affected them. The compact and centralized 19th century city with its mass transit lines converging on the downtown was a perfect environment for department store growth. But as residents moved out of the downtown areas to the suburbs, the large, downtown department stores became inconvenient and lost business to the newer suburban shopping malls. In 2003, U.S. department store sales were surpassed by big-box store sales for the first time (though some stores may be classified as "big box" by physical layout and "department store" by merchandise).
qas: answers: text: specialist stores
question: What is one type of competition department stores face? 

answers: text: superstores
question: What types of stores have created even more competition? 

answers: text: residents moved out of the downtown areas to the suburbs
question: What factor lead to a decrease in department store shoppers?

answers: text: 2003
question: In what year were department store sales beaten by larger stores?

context: Since the opening policy in 1979, the Chinese department stores also develops swiftly along with the fast-growing economy. There are different department store groups dominating different regions. For example, INTIME department store has the biggest market presence in Zhejiang province, while Jinying department stores dominate Jiangsu Province. Besides, there are many other department store groups, such as Pacific, Parkson, Wangfujing，New World，etc., many of them are expanding quickly by listing in the financial market.
qas: answers: text: opening policy in 1979
question: What began the influx of Chinese department stores?

answers: text: Zhejiang province
question: What area does INTIME department stores have the most influence in?

answers: text: Jinying
question: What department store has the most success in Jiangsu Province?

answers: text: by listing in the financial market.
question: How are these foreign department stores expanding so quickly? 

context: The first department stores Lane Crawford was opened in 1850 by Scots Thomas Ash Lane and Ninian Crawford on Des Voeux Road, Hong Kong Island. At the beginning, the store mainly catered visiting ships' crews as well as British Navy staff and their families. In 1900, the first ethnic-Chinese owned Sincere Department Store was opened by Ma Ying Piu, who returned from Australia and inspired by David Jones. In 1907, another former Hong Kong expatriate in Australia, the Kwok's family, returned to Hong Kong and founded Wing On.
qas: answers: text: 1850
question: What year did Lane Crawford open? 

answers: text: Scots Thomas Ash Lane and Ninian Crawford
question: Who established Lane Crawford? 

answers: text: visiting ships' crews as well as British Navy staff and their families
question: What was the store's original target customer base?

answers: text: Ma Ying Piu
question: Who opened the first Chinese-owned department store? 

context: In Denmark you find three department store chains: Magasin (1868), Illum (1891), Salling (1906). Magasin is by far the largest with 6 stores all over the country, with the flagship store being Magasin du Nord on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. Illums only store on Amagertorv in Copenhagen has the appearance of a department store with 20% run by Magasin, but has individual shop owners making it a shopping centre. But in people's mind it remains a department store. Salling has two stores in Jutland with one of these being the reason for the closure of a magasin store due to the competition.
qas: answers: text: Magasin (1868), Illum (1891), Salling (1906).
question: What are the 3 main department store companies in Denmark? 

answers: text: Magasin
question: Currently, what is the largest department store chain in Denmark? 

answers: text: Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen
question: Where is Magasin's "flagship" store located? 

answers: text: two
question: How many stores does Salling have in Jutland? 

context: France's major upscale department stores are Galeries Lafayette and Le Printemps, which both have flagship stores on Boulevard Haussmann in Paris and branches around the country. The first department store in France, Le Bon Marché in Paris, was founded in 1852 and is now owned by the luxury goods conglomerate LVMH. La Samaritaine, another upscale department store also owned by LVMH, closed in 2005. Mid-range department stores chains also exist in France such as the BHV (Bazar de l'Hotel de Ville), part of the same group as Galeries Lafayette.
qas: answers: text: Galeries Lafayette and Le Printemps
question: What are two main department stores in France?

answers: text: 1852
question: What year was the first department store open in France? 

answers: text: LVMH
question: Who currently owns Le Bon Marche?

answers: text: La Samaritaine
question: What apartment store in Paris was closed in 2005? 

answers: text: BHV (Bazar de l'Hotel de Ville)
question: What French department store is part of the same group as Galeries Lafayette?

context: The design and function of department stores in Germany followed the lead of London, Paris and New York. Germany used to have a number of department stores; nowadays only a few of them remain. Next to some smaller, independent department stores these are Karstadt (in 2010 taken over by Nicolas Berggruen, also operating the KaDeWe in Berlin, the Alsterhaus in Hamburg and the Oberpollinger in Munich), GALERIA Kaufhof (part of the Metro AG). Others like Hertie, Wertheim and Horten AG were taken over by others and either fully integrated or later closed.
qas: answers: text: London, Paris and New York.
question: What cities influenced how department stores in Germany operated? 

answers: text: Karstadt
question: What department store was taken over by Nicolas Berggruen in 2010?

answers: text: KaDeWe
question: What major department store operates in Berlin? 

answers: text: GALERIA Kaufhof
question: What store is a part of the Metro AG?

context: The middle up segment is mainly occupied by Metro Department Store originated from Singapore and Sogo from Japan. 2007 saw the re-opening of Jakarta's Seibu, poised to be the largest and second most upscale department store in Indonesia after Harvey Nichols, which the latter closed in 2010 and yet plans to return. Other international department stores include Debenhams and Marks & Spencer. Galeries Lafayette also joins the Indonesian market in 2013 inside Pacific Place Mall. This department store is targeting middle up market with price range from affordable to luxury, poised to be the largest upscale department store. Galeries Lafayette, Debenhams, Harvey Nichols, Marks & Spencer, Seibu and Sogo are all operated by PT. Mitra Adiperkasa.
qas: answers: text: Singapore and Sogo from Japan
question: Where did the Metro Department store originally begin?

answers: text: 2007
question: When did Seibu, located in Jakarta, re-open? 

answers: text: Pacific Place Mall
question: Where did Galeries Lafayette open in 2013, inside Indonesia? 

answers: text: PT. Mitra Adiperkasa.
question: Who operates the wide range of department stores in these areas?

answers: text: Harvey Nichols
question: What store led the Indonesian markets until 2010 when it closed? 

context: Parkson enters by acquiring local brand Centro Department Store in 2011. Centro still operates for middle market while the 'Parkson' brand itself, positioned for middle-up segment, enters in 2014 by opening its first store in Medan, followed by its second store in Jakarta. Lotte, meanwhile, enters the market by inking partnership with Ciputra Group, creating what its called 'Lotte Shopping Avenue' inside the Ciputra World Jakarta complex, as well as acquiring Makro and rebranding it into Lotte Mart.
qas: answers: text: Centro Department Store
question: What store did Parkson buy in 2011? 

answers: text: Medan
question: Where did Centro open it's first store of 2014?

answers: text: Ciputra Group
question: Who did Lotte partner with? 

answers: text: Ciputra World Jakarta complex
question: Where is the "Lotte Shopping Avenue" located? 

answers: text: Lotte Mart
question: What was Makro re-labeled as after it's purchase? 

context: Ireland developed a strong middle class, especially in the major cities, by the mid-nineteenth century. They were active patrons of department stores. Delany's New Mart was opened in 1853 in Dublin, Ireland. Unlike others, Delany's had not evolved gradually from a smaller shop on site. Thus it could claim to be the first purpose-built Department Store in the world. The word department store had not been invented at that time and thus it was called the "Monster House". The store was completely destroyed in the 1916 Easter Rising, but reopened in 1922.
qas: answers: text: mid-nineteenth century.
question: When did Ireland begin to see a growth in its middle class?

answers: text: Delany's New Mart
question: What department store was founded in 1853?

answers: text: Dublin
question: In what city was Delany's New Mart opened? 

answers: text: Monster House
question: What was Delany's originally called? 

answers: text: 1916
question: In what year was the store destroyed? 

context: Mexico has a large number of department stores based in Mexico, of which the most traditional are El Palacio de Hierro (High end and luxury goods) and Liverpool (Upper-middle income), with its middle income sister store Fabricas de Francia. Sanborns owns over 100 middle income level stores throughout the country. Grupo Carso operates Sears Mexico and two high-end Saks 5th Avenue stores. Other large chains are Coppel and Elektra, which offer items for the bargain price seeker. Wal-Mart operates Suburbia for lower income shoppers, along with stores under the brand names of Wal-Mart, Bodega Aurrera, and Superama.
qas: answers: text: El Palacio de Hierro
question: What Mexican department store typically caters to high-end goods?

answers: text: Sanborns
question: What company is responsible for over 100 stores in the country? 

answers: text: Grupo Carso
question: What company operates Sears Mexico? 

answers: text: Coppel and Elektra
question: What chains typically cater to bargain shoppers? 

context: The iconic department stores of New Zealand's three major centres are Smith & Caughey's (founded 1880), in New Zealand's most populous city, Auckland; Kirkcaldie & Stains (founded 1863) in the capital, Wellington; and Ballantynes (founded 1854) in New Zealand's second biggest city, Christchurch. These offer high-end and luxury items. Additionally, Arthur Barnett (1903) operates in Dunedin. H & J Smith is a small chain operating throughout Southland with a large flagship store in Invercargill. Farmers is a mid-range national chain of stores (originally a mail-order firm known as Laidlaw Leeds founded in 1909). Historical department stores include DIC. Discount chains include The Warehouse, Kmart Australia, and the now-defunct DEKA.
qas: answers: text: high-end and luxury items
question: What sorts of goods do the most popular department stores in New Zealand offer? 

answers: text: Dunedin
question: What city is Arthur Barnett in? 

answers: text: Invercargill
question: Where is H & J Smith's flagship store?

answers: text: Southland
question: Where are H & J Smith stores typically located? 

answers: text: 1909
question: When was Laidlaw Leeds first established? 

context: Panama's first department stores such as Bazaar Francés, La Dalia and La Villa de Paris started as textile retailers at the turn of the nineteenth century. Later on in the twentieth century these eventually gave way to stores such as Felix B. Maduro, Sarah Panamá, Figali, Danté, Sears, Gran Morrison and smaller ones such as Bon Bini, Cocos, El Lider, Piccolo and Clubman among others. Of these only Felix B. Maduro (usually referred to as Felix by locals) and Danté remain strong. All the others have either folded or declined although Cocos has managed to secure a good position in the market.
qas: answers: text: as textile retailers
question: How did Panama's department stores originally begin? 

answers: text: at the turn of the nineteenth century
question: When did Panama's Department stores first start? 

answers: text: Felix B. Maduro
question: What department store is often called "Felix" by the local population? 

answers: text: Cocos
question: What store has managed to survive despite much it's competition going under? 

context: The first department store in the Philippines is the Hoskyn's Department Store of Hoskyn & Co. established in 1877 in Iloilo by the Englishman Henry Hoskyn, nephew of Nicholas Loney, the first British vice-consul in Iloilo. Some of the earliest department stores in the Philippines were located in Manila as early as 1898 with the opening of the American Bazaar, which was later named Beck's. During the course of the American occupation of the Philippines, many department stores were built throughout the city, many of which were located in Escolta. Heacock's, a luxury department store, was considered as the best department store in the Orient. Other department stores included Aguinaldo's, La Puerta del Sol, Estrella del Norte, and the Crystal Arcade, all of which were destroyed during the Battle of Manila in 1945. After the war, department stores were once again alive with the establishment of Shoemart (now SM), and Rustan's. Since the foundation of these companies in the 1950s, there are now more than one hundred department stores to date. At present, due to the huge success of shopping malls, department stores in the Philippines usually are anchor tenants within malls. SM Supermalls and Robinsons Malls are two of the country's most prominent mall chains, all of which has Department Store sections.
qas: answers: text: 1877
question: When was the first department store in the Philippines opened?

answers: text: Henry Hoskyn
question: Who opened some of the first department stores in the Philippines? 

answers: text: Manila
question: Where were some of the original Philippine stores located?  

answers: text: Battle of Manila in 1945
question: What historical event led to many department stores in the area being destroyed? 

answers: text: 1950s
question: When were the companies Shoemart and Rustan's established? 

context: In Puerto Rico, various department stores have operated, such as Sears, JC Penney, Macy's, Kmart, Wal-Mart, Marshalls, Burlington Coat Factory, T.J. Maxx, Costco, Sam's Club and others. La New York was a Puerto Rican department store. Topeka, Capri and Pitusa are competitors on the Puerto Rican market that also have hypermarkets operating under their names. Retailers Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue also have plans to come to the Mall of San Juan, a new high-end retail project with over 100 tenants. The mall is set to open in March 2015.
qas: answers: text: La New York
question: What department store in Puerto Rico is named after an American city?

answers: text: March 2015
question: When is the Mall of San Juan expected to open? 

answers: text: 100 tenants
question: How many tenants are expected to set up shop in the Mall of San Juan?

answers: text: Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue
question: What two major retailers have plans to do business in the mall once it opens? 

context: The site where the Saint Petersburg Passage sprawls had been devoted to trade since the city's foundation in the early 18th century. It had been occupied by various shops and warehouses (Maly Gostiny Dvor, Schukin Dvor, Apraksin Dvor) until 1846, when Count Essen-Stenbock-Fermor acquired the grounds to build an elite shopping mall for the Russian nobility and wealthy bourgeoisie. Stenbock-Fermor conceived of the Passage as more than a mere shopping mall, but also as a cultural and social centre for the people of St Petersburg. The edifice contained coffee-houses, confectioneries, panorama installations, an anatomical museum, a wax museum, and even a small zoo, described by Dostoyevsky in his extravaganza "Crocodile, or Passage through the Passage". The concert hall became renowned as a setting for literary readings attended by the likes of Dostoevsky and Turgenev. Parenthetically, the Passage premises have long been associated with the entertainment industry and still remains home to the Komissarzhevskaya Theatre.
qas: answers: text: early 18th century
question: When was Saint Petersburg established? 

answers: text: Count Essen-Stenbock-Fermor
question: Who founded a shopping mall reserved for the most elites of society? 

answers: text: Dostoyevsky
question: What famous author described parts of the mall in his books?

answers: text: Komissarzhevskaya Theatre
question: What historical site still operates within the mall? 

context: Socialism confronted consumerism in the chain State Department Stores (GUM), set up by Lenin in 1921 as a model retail enterprise. It operated stores throughout Russia and targeted consumers across class, gender, and ethnic lines. GUM was designed to advance the Bolsheviks' goals of eliminating private enterprise and rebuilding consumerism along socialist lines, as well as democratizing consumption for workers and peasants nationwide. GUM became a major propaganda purveyor, with advertising and promotional campaigns that taught Russians the goals of the regime and attempted to inculcate new attitudes and behavior. In trying to create a socialist consumer culture from scratch, GUM recast the functions and meanings of buying and selling, turning them into politically charged acts that could either contribute to or delay the march toward utopian communism. By the late 1920s, however, GUM's gandiose goals had proven unrealistic and largely alienated consumers, who instead learned a culture of complaint and entitlement. GUM's main function became one of distributing whatever the factories sent them, regardless of consumer demand or quality.
qas: answers: text: State Department Stores (GUM)
question: What group was established in 1921 in response to the clash between socialism and consumerism? 

answers: text: late 1920s
question: When did GUM begin to decline and lose power? 

answers: text: Lenin
question: Who formed the State Department Stores, AKA GUM? 

answers: text: 1921
question: When did they first establish the organization?

context: In the 21st century the most famous department store in Russia is GUM in Moscow, followed by TsUM and the Petrovsky Passage. Other popular stores are Mega (shopping malls), Stockmann, and Marks & Spencer. Media Markt, M-video, Technosila, and White Wind (Beliy Veter) sell large number of electronic devices. In St. Petersburg The Passage has been popular since the 1840s. 1956 Soviet film Behind Store Window (За витриной универмага) on YouTube depicts operation of a Moscow department store in 1950's.
qas: answers: text: Moscow
question: Where is the most notable Russian department store located?

answers: text: St. Petersburg
question: In what city is the Passage located?

answers: text: Behind Store Window
question: What movie demonstrates the operation of department stores in the former Soviet Union?

answers: text: 1956
question: When was the movie depicting soviet department stores filmed? 

context: The five most prevalent chains are Lotte, Hyundai, Shinsegae, Galleria, AK plaza. Lotte Department Store is the largest, operating more than 40 stores (include outlet, young plaza, foreign branches). Hyundai Department Store has about 14 stores (13dept, 1outlet), and there are 10 stores in Shinsegae. Shinsegae has 3 outlet store with Simon. Galleria has 5, AK has 5 stores. Galleriaeast and west is well known by luxury goods. These five department stores are known to people as representative corporations in the field of distirution in South Korea. From fashion items to electric appliances, people can buy various kinds of products. Every weekend, people are fond of going around these department stores, because their location is usually easy to visit. As of 2010 the Shinsegae department store in Centum City, Busan, is the largest department store in the world.
qas: answers: text: Lotte Department Store
question: What department store chain operates the most stores? 

answers: text: South Korea
question: Where is the "field of distribution" most often associated with?

answers: text: Shinsegae department store
question: What store was the largest department store in the world in 2010?

answers: text: Centum City, Busan
question: Where is the largest department store in the world located?

context: The first department store in Spain was Almacenes el Siglo opened in October 1881 in Barcelona. Following the 2002 closure by the Australian group Partridges of their SEPU (Sociedad Española de Precios Unicos) department store chain, which was one of Spain's oldest, the market is now dominated by El Corte Inglés, founded in 1934 as a drapery store. El Corte Inglés stores tend to be vast buildings, selling a very broad range of products and the group also controls a number of other retail formats including supermarket chain 'Supercor' and hypermarket chain 'Hipercor'. Other competitors such as 'Simago' and 'Galerías Preciados' closed in the 1990s, however El Corte Inglés, faces major competition from French discount operators such as Carrefour and Auchan.
qas: answers: text: Almacenes el Siglo
question: What was the name of the first Spanish department store?

answers: text: October 1881
question: When was the first Spanish department store opened? 

answers: text: El Corte Inglés
question: What department store brand now owns most of the market in Spain? 

answers: text: 1934
question: When was El Corte Ingles established? 

context: John Lewis Newcastle (formerly Bainbridge) in Newcastle upon Tyne, is the world's oldest Department Store. It is still known to many of its customers as Bainbridge, despite the name change to 'John Lewis'. The Newcastle institution dates back to 1838 when Emerson Muschamp Bainbridge, aged 21, went into partnership with William Alder Dunn and opened a draper's and fashion in Market Street, Newcastle. In terms of retailing history, one of the most significant facts about the Newcastle Bainbridge shop, is that as early as 1849 weekly takings were recorded by department, making it the earliest of all department stores. This ledger survives and is kept in the John Lewis archives. John Lewis bought the Bainbridge store in 1952.
qas: answers: text: Bainbridge
question: What is the former name of John Lewis Newcastle? 

answers: text: John Lewis Newcastle
question: What is the world's oldest department store? 

answers: text: Emerson Muschamp Bainbridge
question: Who partnered with William Alder Dunn to open the first store? 

answers: text: Market Street, Newcastle
question: What was the location of the first store? 

answers: text: 1952
question: When did John Lewis purchase and take over the Bainbridge store?

context: Also, Kendals in Manchester can lay claim to being one of the oldest department stores in the UK. Beginning as a small shop owned by S. and J. Watts in 1796, its sold a variety of goods. Kendal Milne and Faulkner purchased the business in 1835. Expanding the space, rather than use it as a typical warehouse simply to showcase textiles, it became a vast bazaar. Serving Manchester's upmarket clientele for over 200 years, it was taken over by House of Fraser and recently rebranded as House of Fraser Manchester – although most Mancunians still refer to it as Kendals. The Kendal Milne signage still remains over the main entrance to the art deco building in the city's Deansgate.
qas: answers: text: Kendal Milne and Faulkner
question: Who purchased a small shop in 1835, which would eventually become Kendals?

answers: text: Manchester
question: Where was the store located? 

answers: text: over 200 years
question: How long did the store operate for? 

answers: text: House of Fraser
question: Who eventually purchased and assumed operation of the store? 

context: All major cities have their distinctive local department stores, which anchored the downtown shopping district until the arrival of the malls in the 1960s. Washington, for example, after 1887 had Woodward & Lothrop and Garfinckel's starting in 1905. Garfield's went bankrupt in 1990, as did Woodward & Lothrop in 1994. Baltimore had four major department stores: Hutzler's was the prestige leader, followed by Hecht's, Hochschild's and Stewart's. They all operated branches in the suburbs, but all closed in the late twentieth century. By 2015, most locally owned department stores around the country had been consolidated into larger chains, or had closed down entirely.
qas: answers: text: 1905
question: When did Garfinckel's begin operating in Washington? 

answers: text: 1990
question: In what year did Garfield's go bankrupt?

answers: text: four
question: How many major department stores did Baltimore have at the time? 

answers: text: 2015
question: By what year had most local stores been assimilated into larger chain operations? 

context: Chain department stores grew rapidly after 1920, and provided competition for the downtown upscale department stores, as well as local department stores in small cities. J. C. Penney had four stores in 1908, 312 in 1920, and 1452 in 1930. Sears, Roebuck & Company, a giant mail-order house, opened its first eight retail stores in 1925, and operated 338 by 1930, and 595 by 1940. The chains reached a middle-class audience, that was more interested in value than in upscale fashions. Sears was a pioneer in creating department stores that catered to men as well as women, especially with lines of hardware and building materials. It deemphasized the latest fashions in favor of practicality and durability, and allowed customers to select goods without the aid of a clerk. Its stores were oriented to motorists – set apart from existing business districts amid residential areas occupied by their target audience; had ample, free, off-street parking; and communicated a clear corporate identity. In the 1930s, the company designed fully air-conditioned, "windowless" stores whose layout was driven wholly by merchandising concerns.
qas: answers: text: 1452
question: How many stores was J. C. Penny operating in 1930?

answers: text: middle-class audience
question: What demographic were most stores focusing on?

answers: text: Sears
question: What store was one of the first to offer shopping choices for both men and women at the same time?

answers: text: 595
question: How many stores was Sears operating in 1940?

context: After World War II Hudson's realized that the limited parking space at its downtown skyscraper would increasingly be a problem for its customers. The solution in 1954 was to open the Northland Center in nearby Southfield, just beyond the city limits. It was the largest suburban shopping center in the world, and quickly became the main shopping destination for northern and western Detroit, and for much of the suburbs. By 1961 the downtown skyscraper accounted for only half of Hudson's sales; it closed in 1986. The Northland Center Hudson's, rebranded Macy's in 2006 following acquisition by Federated Department Stores, was closed along with the remaining stores in the center in March 2015 due to the mall's high storefront vacancy, decaying infrastructure, and financial mismanagement.
qas: answers: text: 1954
question: In what year did Hudson's address the issue of parking within cities?

answers: text: Northland Center
question: What was the store called in Southfield? 

answers: text: 1986
question: In what year did the Hudson's skyscraper close? 

answers: text: Federated Department Stores
question: What company purchased the Northland Center in 2006?

answers: text: Macy's
question: What was the Northfield Center renamed after it's purchase by another company?

context: George Dayton had founded his Dayton's Dry Goods store in Minneapolis in 1902 and the AMC cooperative in 1912. His descendants built Southdale Center in 1956, opened the Target discount store chain in 1962 and the B. Dalton Bookseller chain in 1966. Dayton's grew to 19 stores under the Dayton's name plus five other regional names acquired by Dayton-Hudson. The Dayton-Hudson Corporation closed the flagship J. L. Hudson Department Store in downtown Detroit in 1983, but expanded its other retail operations. It acquired Mervyn's in 1978, Marshall Field's in 1990, and renamed itself the Target Corporation in 2000. In 2002, Dayton's and Hudson's were consolidated into the Marshall Field's name. In 2005, May Department Stores acquired all of the Marshall Field's stores and shortly thereafter, Macy's acquired May.
qas: answers: text: George Dayton
question: Who opened Dayton's Dry Goods?

answers: text: 1902
question: In what year was Dayton's Dry Goods established? 

answers: text: 1956
question: When was the Southdale Center opened? 

answers: text: Mervyn's
question: What store did the Dayton-Hudson Corporation purchase in 1978?

context: In 1849, Horne's began operations and soon became a leading Pittsburgh department store. In 1879, it opened a seven-story landmark which was the first department store in the city's downtown. In 1972, Associated Dry Goods acquired Horne's, and ADG expanded operations of Horne's to several stores in suburban malls throughout the Pittsburgh region as well as in Erie, Pennsylvania and Northeast Ohio. In December 1986, Horne's was acquired by a local investor group following ADG's acquisition by May Department Stores. By 1994, Federated Department Stores acquired the remaining ten Horne's stores and merged them with its Lazarus division, completely ceasing all operations of any store under the Horne's name.
qas: answers: text: 1849
question: In what year did Horne began doing business?

answers: text: Pittsburgh
question: In what city did Horne begin their operations?

answers: text: Associated Dry Goods
question: What company purchased Horne's in 1972?

answers: text: ten
question: How many Horne's stores did Federated Department Stores buy in 1994?