摘要：The article is a historical trip into the creation of the oldest kind of unspecialized store that exists in the modern commercial landscape and whose pioneering concepts transformed the way in which consumers shop up today. The paper is divided into three sections, each of them contributing to achieve the purpose that is to examine the origins and the business model of the first department store in the world. The paper also enriches our knowledge about the department store and retailing history. In the first section, the author emphasizes on the particular economic context that allowed the creation of big retail surfaces, to the mid-1800s, and describes architecture, atmosphere and retail strategy specific to Bon Marché. In the second section, department store was defined and have been identified its key characteristics. The last section was devoted to the general future trends which can make possible the survival of the department stores in the modern commercial landscape. Finally conclusions were outlined.
