The department store – The new ‘shopping temples’ cause a stir

From the middle of the nineteenth century department stores became something of a sensation. What impressed people was the enormous range of products, the way that prices were clearly marked and the impressive architecture.
Many of the department stores were run by Jews and there soon arose a counter-movement which was both anti-modernist and anti-Semitic. It was claimed that the new stores were ruining small shopkeepers and ‘seducing’ women into shopping.