Designed to Sell: The Evolution of Modern Merchandising and Display

Designed to Sell presents an engaging account of mid-twentieth-century department store design and display in America from the 1930s to the 1960s. It traces the development of postwar philosophies of retail design that embodied aesthetics and function and new modes of merchandise display, resulting in the emergence of a new type of industrial designer.

The evolution of aesthetics in department stores during this period reflected larger cultural shifts in consumer behaviour and lifestyle. Des...