The Saga of Department Stores

A tv programme

Directed by

Anaïs Feuillette, Gérard Miller

Produced by

Tamara Films

Production year2024

Programme formatOne-off

GenresDocumentary

Runtime 52 min

Synopsis

Emblems of the consumer society in which we live, department stores are the symbol of the commercial, cultural and social changes western societies went through between 1850 and 1950. Although they were designed first and foremost for female customers, they also represented a place of emancipation for upper middle-class women and the saleswomen who worked there. With their plethora of products, fitting rooms, lit up window displays and advertisements, the department stores revolutionized the act of purchase through the invention of the French shopping experience. This new formula proved so successful that it’s since been exported worldwide, from Bloomingdale’s in the US to Mitsukoshi in Japan, and from Harrods in the UK to El Corte Inglés in Spain, or GUM in Russia. Through its wealth of archive images, this documentary takes us back to the intensely exciting dawn of a new, modern era, characterized by innovations, consumption and freedoms.