ABSTRACT
The economic development of countries, such as the USA or Canada, has been well documented by economic and business historians. The concept of ‘channels of distribution’ has been an elusive one to grasp because it is linked with what channel members do and what distributive functions they perform. All channels of distribution are both economic and political entities. They all have a historical origin which reflects the social and economic structure of a country, a region or a market. They have been structured, moulded and organized over time to reflect the legal, cultural and social values of the participants and their environment. The practice of marketing has been around since man recognized the benefits of exchange. That need to trade soon led to a need for traders, merchants or middlemen to facilitate business transactions, even when the producer assumed some, if not all, the distributive tasks of a middleman.
