ABSTRACT
Distance was the primary obstacle to be overcome for the customer-retailer interface, but as has been shown, it was also essential for the customer-product relationship to work. Variety, range and choice, on the other hand, were primary motivators in an expanding world of goods. They resulted in increasing demands both by and on customers who wanted to negotiate its abundance, its promises and challenges through modelling and, if necessary, through adapting their consuming behaviour. The concepts of access and availability are closely linked to the notions of distance, location, variety, range and choice explored earlier, and with each they form a specific connection. They were constitutive factors in the mental framework that facilitated and regulated supply and distribution, and in their various combinations, these factors help us to develop an understanding of the processes of exchange and of the subliminal mindset of the human agents involved in the process of cultural exchange.
