Devrim Umut Aslan
Teaching staff
Past and Future Embedded in the Present : A Cultural History of a Local Shopping Street
Author
Summary, in English
Södergatan is the main shopping street of the stigmatized district Söder in Helsingborg, a middle-size city in south Sweden. Söder was established as a working-class district in the mid 19th century, and thereby Södergatan functioned as a retail geography primarily serving the needs of the working-class families living in the area. Starting from the1910s, gradually, more modern retail formats, such as department stores, supermarkets, and national and international chain stores made an entrance, which enabled novel ways of shopping. After the 1980s, along with global trends, independent retailers and service stores expanded in the retail geography once again, this time it was transcultural migrant entrepreneurs who run the retail places. Finally, in the last couple of years, a number of new construction and renovation projects have been initiated in Söder, including a high-class hotel, a bohemian art gallery, and renovation of the old local shopping mall to upscale experience and residential center, which facilitated multiple future scenarios.
The study is based on analysis of written and visual historical documents, and visual ethnographic research conducted on consumers’ shopping performances on the street.
Department/s
- Department of Service Studies
Publishing year
2018
Language
English
Document type
Conference paper: abstract
Topic
- Social Sciences Interdisciplinary
Keywords
- Local Shopping Street
- Local High Street
- Cultural History
- Retail History
Conference name
Annual Conference of International Society of Cultural History (ISCH)
Conference date
2018-09-13 - 2018-09-16
Conference place
New York, United States
Status
Published
Project
- Praxitopia: How shopping makes a street vibrant