Department_store

qas: question: What sorts of departments might one see in a major department store?
answers: text: clothing, furniture, home appliances, toys, cosmetics, gardening, toiletries, sporting goods

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

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

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

question: What sorts of departments might one see in a minor department store?

question: Who started influencing department stores in the 1990's?

question: Who stopped influencing department stores in the 1970's?

question: What has stopped pressuring department stores in more recent years?

question: Other than at the check-out lanes at the front of a store, where can't customers check out?
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: question: When did the idea of a "consumer society" begin? 
answers: text: at the turn of the 19th century.

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

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

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

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

question: When didn't the idea of a "consumer society" begin? 

question: What social group shrank as a result of the industrial revolution? 

question: Who was Josh Wedgewood?

question: What is one explanation for the fall of retail stores in earlier history?

question: What group of people were suddenly no longer free to go shopping with fears of being judged or reprimanded? 
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: question: Who became the predominant shoppers for individual households in the nineteenth century? 
answers: text: women

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

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

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

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

question: Who became the predominant shoppers for individual households in the 18th century? 

question: What business in Manchester claims to be the last department store? 

question: What did Kendals change it's name to in 2015? 

question: What year did the Manchester institution end?

question: Who acquired the Manchester store in 1991? 
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: question: Who founded Selfridges in 1909?
answers: text: Harry Gordon Selfridge

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

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

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

question: Who founded Selfridges in 1990?

question: Who closed Selfridges in 1909?

question: What made Selfridges the same as many department stores at the time?

question: How wasn't the store most often presented to the public? 

question: What sort of customers did Selfridges least often cater to?
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: question: What were the origins of the Paris department store? 
answers: text: magasin de nouveautés

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

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

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

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

question: What weren't the origins of the Paris department store?

question: What year was the last Paris department store founded? 

question: What year was the first Paris department store closed? 

question: What factors influenced the decrease of department stores in Paris? 

question: Where did department stores begin to advertise after the large influx of old shoppers?
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: question: What store was founded in Paris, in 1838, which sold a wide variety of products? 
answers: text: Au Bon Marché

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

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

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

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

question: What store was founded in Paris, in 1883, which sold a wide variety of products? 

question: Who became a partner to this store in 1825 and drastically changed operations?

question: What was the change in profit to Au Bon Marche before these changes? 

question: What engineering company helped the store expand in 1782

question: What was Boucicaut most widely unknown for? 
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: question: Where was The Grands Magasins Dufayel built? 
answers: text: the northern part of Paris

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

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

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

question: Where weren't The Grands Magasins Dufayel built? 

question: What weren't employees taught that made a shopping experience different?

question: What were employees taught that made a shopping experience the same?

question: What sort of stores were The Grands Magasins Dufayel not compared to? 

question: How were these stores the same as most during that time?
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: question: What is recognized as the "first" department store in America?
answers: text: Arnold, Constable

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

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

question: What made Arnold, Constable stand out from other stores during the civil war? 
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: When was the "Palace of Trade" built? 
answers: text: 1869

question: What is recognized as the "last" department store in America?

question: Who rejected Arnold, Constable? 

question: Where was the store moved in 1875?

question: What made Arnold, Constable stand out from other stores during the revolutionary war? 

question: When was the "Palace of Trade" destroyed?
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: question: Where was the "Marble Palace" built in 1846?
answers: text: on Broadway, between Chambers and Reade streets

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

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

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

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

question: Where was the "Marble Palace" built in 1864?

question: What policy didn't the Marble Palace introduce? 

question: How many departments did the new store have, built in 1962?

question: What buying methods did the Marble Palace use?

question: What customer services didn't the Marble Palace offer? 
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: question: Who opened the original "modern" department store in America?
answers: text: John Wanamaker

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

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

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

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

question: Who opened the last "modern" department store in America?

question: What feature made Wanamakers the same as other stores at the time?

question: How were unimportant documents and money transported throughout the store? 

question: When was electric lighting last installed and used in the store? 

question: In what state wasn't Wanamakers established? 
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: question: In what year was Marshall Field and company established? 
answers: text: 1852

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

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

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

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

question: In what year was Marshall Field and company closed? 

question: When didn't Marshall's convert to the Macy's name? 

question: What made Marshall's such a bad example for other stores?

question: Where was Marshall's European selling office located? 

question: What charged service did Marshall's provide customers until changing their name to Macy's? 
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: question: What occupation did David Jones have?
answers: text: merchant

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

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

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

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

question: What occupation didn't David Jones have?

question: Where didn't David Jones and Charles Appleton meet? 

question: Where did Appleton begin a store in 1852?

question: What was the store in Sydney called after Jones moved to Austria? 

question: When did the partnership between Jones and Appleton start?
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: question: What were some of the original Australian department stores? 
answers: text: Grace Bros. and Waltons

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

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

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

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

question: What were some of the unoriginal Australian department stores? 

question: When did Sydney Myer come to Austria? 

question: Where did the Myer Retail Group open its last store? 

question: What type of hardware stores are Myer and David Jones?

question: What department store brand is now out of business in Austria? 
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: question: What business was the Hudson's Bay Company originally involved in? 
answers: text: the fur trade

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

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

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

question: What business was the Hudson's Bay Company originally not involved in? 

question: What department store chain did Hudson's Bay Company own until it dissolved in 2003?

question: How many stores did Woolco operate before buying Walmart? 

question: Currently, what department store is least popular in Canada? 

question: Currently, what department store is most unpopular in Canada? 
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: question: What is one type of competition department stores face? 
answers: text: specialist stores

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

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

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

question: What is one type of competition department stores never face? 

question: What types of stores have created even less competition? 

question: What types of stores haven't created even more competition? 

question: What factor lead to a increase in department store shoppers?

question: In what year weren't department store sales beaten by larger stores?
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: question: What began the influx of Chinese department stores?
answers: text: opening policy in 1979

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

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

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

question: What ended the influx of Chinese department stores?

question: What began the influx of Japanese department stores?

question: What area does INTIME department stores have the least influence in?

question: What department store has the least success in Jiangsu Province?

question: How are these domestic department stores expanding so quickly?
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: question: What year did Lane Crawford open? 
answers: text: 1850

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

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

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

question: What year did Lane Crawford close? 

question: Who closed Lane Crawford?

question: What wasn't the store's original target customer base?

question: Who closed the first Chinese-owned department store? 

question: Who opened the first Chinese-owned hardware store? 
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: question: What are the 3 main department store companies in Denmark? 
answers: text: Magasin (1868), Illum (1891), Salling (1906).

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

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

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

question: What are the 4 main department store companies in Denmark? 

question: Currently, what isn't the largest department store chain in Denmark?

question: Currently, what is the smallest department store chain in Denmark?

question: Where isn't Magasin's "flagship" store located? 

question: How many stores does Salling have in Justinland? 
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: question: What are two main department stores in France?
answers: text: Galeries Lafayette and Le Printemps

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

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

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

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

question: What are three main department stores in France?

question: What year was the first department store closed in France? 

question: What year wasn't the first department store open in France? 

question: Who currently rents Le Bon Marche?

question: What apartment store in Paris was closed in 2015? 
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: question: What cities influenced how department stores in Germany operated? 
answers: text: London, Paris and New York.

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

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

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

question: What cities influenced how department stores in Austria operated? 

question: What department store was taken over by Nicolas Berggruen in 2011?

question: What department store wasn't taken over by Nicolas Berggruen in 2010?

question: What major department store no longer operates in Berlin? 

question: What store isn't a part of the Metro AG?
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: question: Where did the Metro Department store originally begin?
answers: text: Singapore and Sogo from Japan

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

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

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

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

question: Where did the Metro Department store originally end?

question: When did Seibu, located in Jakarta, re-close? 

question: Where did Galeries Lafayette open in 2003, inside Indonesia

question: Who operates the wide range of department stores in other areas?

question: What store led the Indonesian markets until 2000 when it closed? 
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: question: What store did Parkson buy in 2011? 
answers: text: Centro Department Store

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

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

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

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

question: What store did Parkson sell in 2011? 

question: Where did Centro open it's first store of 2004?

question: Who didn't Lotte partner with?

question: Where isn't the "Lotte Shopping Avenue" located? 

question: What was Makro re-labeled as before it's purchase? 
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: question: When did Ireland begin to see a growth in its middle class?
answers: text: mid-nineteenth century.

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

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

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

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

question: When did Ireland begin to see a growth in its upper class?

question: What department store was founded in 1835?

question: In what city was Delany's New Mart closed? 

question: What wasn't Delany's originally called? 

question: In what year wasn't the store destroyed? 
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: question: What Mexican department store typically caters to high-end goods?
answers: text: El Palacio de Hierro

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

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

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

question: What Mexican department store typically caters to low-end goods?

question: What company is responsible for over 200 stores in the country? 

question: What company isn't responsible for over 100 stores in the country? 

question: What company rejects Sears Mexico? 

question: What chains typically don't cater to bargain shoppers? 
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: question: What sorts of goods do the most popular department stores in New Zealand offer? 
answers: text: high-end and luxury items

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

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

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

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

question: What sorts of goods do the least popular department stores in New Zealand offer? 

question: What city isn't Arthur Barnett in? 

question: Where isn't H & J Smith's flagship store?

question: Where are H & J Smith stores atypically located? 

question: When was Laidlaw Leeds last established? 
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: question: How did Panama's department stores originally begin? 
answers: text: as textile retailers

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

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

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

question: How did Panama's department stores originally end? 

question: How didn't Panama's department stores originally begin? 

question: When did Panama's Department stores first end? 

question: What department store is never called "Felix" by the local population? 

question: What store has managed to close despite much it's competition thriving?
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: question: When was the first department store in the Philippines opened?
answers: text: 1877

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

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

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

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

question: When was the first department store in the Philippines closed?

question: When was the last department store in the Philippines opened?

question: Who closed some of the first department stores in the Philippines? 

question: Where were some of the newest Philippines stores located? 

question: What historical event led to many department stores in the area being saved? 
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: question: What department store in Puerto Rico is named after an American city?
answers: text: La New York

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

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

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

question: What department store in Puerto Rico isn't named after an American city?

question: When is the Mall of San Juan expected to close? 

question: When isn't the Mall of San Juan expected to open? 

question: How many tenants aren't expected to set up shop in the Mall of San Juan?

question: What two minor retailers have plans to do business in the mall once it opens?
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: question: When was Saint Petersburg established? 
answers: text: early 18th century

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

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

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

question: When was Saint Petersburg demolished? 

question: Who founded a shopping mall reserved for the poorest of society?

question: What unknown author described parts of the mall in his books?

question: What historical site no longer operates within the mall? 

question: What historical site still operates outside of the mall? 
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: question: What group was established in 1921 in response to the clash between socialism and consumerism? 
answers: text: State Department Stores (GUM)

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

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

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

question: What group was established in 1912 in response to the clash between socialism and consumerism? 

question: What group was established in 1921 in response to the clash between communism and consumerism? 

question: When did GUM stop declining and gained power? 

question: Who never formed the State Department Stores, AKA GUM? 

question: When did they last establish the organization?
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: question: Where is the most notable Russian department store located?
answers: text: Moscow

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

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

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

question: Where is the least notable Russian department store located?

question: Where is the most notable Russian department store not located?

question: In what city isn't the Passage located?

question: What movie demonstrates the operation of department stores in the current Soviet Union?

question: When wasn't the movie depicting soviet department stores filmed? 
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: question: What department store chain operates the most stores? 
answers: text: Lotte Department Store

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

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

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

question: What department store chain operates the least stores? 

question: What department restaurant chain operates the most stores? 

question: Where is the "field of distribution" least often associated with?

question: Where is the smallest department store in the world located?

question: What store was the smallest department store in the world in 2010?
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: question: What was the name of the first Spanish department store?
answers: text: Almacenes el Siglo

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

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

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

question: What wasn't the name of the first Spanish department store?

question: What was the name of the last Spanish department store?

question: When was the first Spanish department store closed? 

question: When was El Corte Ingles demolished? 

question: What department store brand now rents most of the market in Spain? 
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: question: What is the former name of John Lewis Newcastle? 
answers: text: Bainbridge

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

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

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

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

question: What is the current name of John Lewis Newcastle? 

question: What is the world's newest department store?

question: Who partnered with William Alder Dunn to open the last store? 

question: What was the location of the last store? 

question: When did John Lewis sell and take over the Bainbridge store?
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: question: Who purchased a small shop in 1835, which would eventually become Kendals?
answers: text: Kendal Milne and Faulkner

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

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

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

question: Who purchased a small shop in 1853, which would eventually become Kendals?

question: Who purchased a large shop in 1835, which would eventually become Kendals?

question: Where wasn't the store located? 

question: How long didn't the store operate for? 

question: Who eventually sold and ceased operation of the 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: question: When did Garfinckel's begin operating in Washington? 
answers: text: 1905

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

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

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

question: When did Garfinckel's end operating in Washington? 

question: In what year didn't Garfield's go bankrupt?

question: How many minor department stores did Baltimore have at the time? 

question: How many major department stores didn't Baltimore have at the time? 

question: By what year hadn't most local stores been assimilated into larger chain operations? 
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: question: How many stores was J. C. Penny operating in 1930?
answers: text: 1452

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

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

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

question: How many stores was J. C. Penny operating in 1903?

question: How many stores wasn't J. C. Penny operating in 1930?

question: What demographic weren't most stores focusing on?

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

question: How many stores was Sears operating in 1904?
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: question: In what year did Hudson's address the issue of parking within cities?
answers: text: 1954

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

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

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

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

question: In what year didn't Hudson's address the issue of parking within cities?

question: In what year did Hudson's address the issue of parking outside of cities?

question: What was the store called in Northfield? 

question: In what year did the Hudson's skyscraper open? 

question: What company purchased the Northland Center in 2016?
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: question: Who opened Dayton's Dry Goods?
answers: text: George Dayton

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

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

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

question: Who closed Dayton's Dry Goods?

question: In what year wasn't Dayton's Dry Goods established? 

question: In what year was Dayton's Dry Goods closed? 

question: When was the Southdale Center closed? 

question: What store did the Dayton-Hudson Corporation purchase in 1987?
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: question: In what year did Horne began doing business?
answers: text: 1849

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

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

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

question: In what year didn't Horne begin doing business?

question: In what year did Horne stop doing business?

question: In what city did Horne cease their operations?

question: What company purchased Horne's in 1927?

question: How many Horne's stores did Federated Department Stores buy in 1949?
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.