ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 established that there was a wide distribution of clothing shops across all areas of Herefordshire and Worcestershire that could have been used by working-class consumers. This chapter will examine the business of these shops in more detail. By using case studies of businesses in Worcester and Hereford, it will investigate and compare how important the trade of working-class consumers was for these shopkeepers. It will consider whether there were specialist shops purely catering for such consumers or if they were more integrated into the general retail environment. The variety of ready-made clothing on offer to customers will also be examined. A discussion about promotion and advertising directed towards the working-class consumer will follow. It will question if shops made a concerted effort to attract working-class consumers or if they did not want to or need to. Conclusions can then be drawn about the range of shops that sold clothing to working-class consumers.
