general retail

 general retail

In a small town or rural hamlet, a general store is a retail establishment that offers a broad range of products, including groceries. In the United States, the early trading post that catered to pioneers and early settlers was replaced by the general store. It was situated in a hamlet or at a crossroads and provided a range of things, such as food, clothes, household items, and agricultural equipment, to the locals and farmers in the nearby area. In many rural places, barter was used for some transactions since money was rare.

In addition to providing tangible products, the storekeeper had a significant role in the community by acting as a gossip and news source. The general store also functioned as a gathering place for locals. Due to the cyclical returns that product from the land and woods supplied, storekeepers sometimes gave their clients long-term loans that may last anywhere from six months to a year.

The American general shop had tremendous growth in the 19th century but a sharp downturn in the 20th, particularly in the 1920s. Specialty shops, which focused on a certain sort of item or a very restricted product range, mostly superseded this.