ABSTRACT
“The development of visual merchandising” takes an in-depth look at the 1920s consumer, whose fashion-forward sensibilities compelled further innovations in the retail market. Because window trimming had historically been more of an art than a science, and because retailers were struggling to understand the psychology of newly mobile shoppers, merchandising took on a more rigorous and visually minded approach. By that time, store managers dedicated special departments for interior display, creating the need for more professionally trained “display men” and laying the groundwork for “visual merchandising.” One of the pioneers in this regard was J. Ullman Stewart, director of display for Kahn’s department store in Oakland, California from 1926 to 1954. By his efforts, visual merchandising became a science in and of itself.
