Designing the department store : display and retail at the turn of the twentieth century Designing the Department Store considers the significant achievements and changes in interior design display and architecture which contributed to a major shift in retail design practice at the turn of the twentieth century. The displayman the predecessor of todays window dressers and visual merchandisers is the focus of this study. The displaymans role in retail design is a compelling topic of contemporary interest since an examination of its history sheds light on the industry at present. Changeability creativity and technological enhancement are all factors which became greater priorities in visual merchandising in the late nineteenth century and which remain central to the success of retail today. The book builds a new argument for the department store as a significant site of design production and therefore offers an alternative interpretation to the mainstream focus on consumption within retail history. The study presents a new perspective on the rise of modern urban consumer culture of which the department store was a key feature. By investigating the production processes of display the book reveals new information about displaymakings tools and technologies the skills of the displayman and the meaning and context of design decisions which shaped the final visual effect