ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how consumption processes are linked simultaneously to the production of sameness. Yet, within contemporary Europe consumerism has been divisive. As part of the wider project of marketing, retailing is closely bound to consumerism, and indeed has become instrumental in fostering consumption. In terms of production structure, the characterizing aspect in France and Italy is the particular dynamic in the relationship between the designer and the manufacturing system. Organizational differences in the structure of the retail market continue to distinguish individual countries, and the newer forms of retail institution continue alongside more traditional ones, such as street markets and other forms of small-scale outlet. In fact, international retailers vary – in Treadgold's classification of global, transnational to multinational retailers, convergence is most pronounced in the case of the global corporation in which there is very little alteration of the format and marketing across boundaries.
