Departmental stores
Also called: Department store · Topic: Tertiary, Quaternary and Quinary Activities · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 6 "Tertiary and Quaternary Activities"
Meaning
A departmental store is a large shop that sells many kinds of goods under one roof. It is divided into sections, called departments, such as clothing, footwear, cosmetics and home goods. Each department has a head. That person decides what to buy for the section and supervises the sales there. Customers can buy many different things in one visit.
Example
Harrods in London is a famous departmental store, with separate departments for food, fashion, toys and furniture in one building.
Don't confuse with
- Shopping mall: a mall holds many separate shops, each with a different owner. A departmental store is one shop under one management.
- Chain stores: these are many stores in different places owned by one company. A departmental store is one big store with many sections.