Английский язык. Агафонова И.Г - 12 стр.

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II.      Read Text 1.
                             The Retail Trade (Text 1)
         Retail trading concerns are of various types. There are department stores,
multiple shops, chain stores, etc., most of which have grown out of the small
trader.
         The department store is usually a most complex concern housed in one or
two huge buildings and divided into a number of departments – furniture
department, grocery department, drapery department, etc. It prides itself on
being able to supply the customer with everything from a needle to a motor car,
from food to pianos, from theatre tickets to country houses, and all “under one
roof”.
         The store is generally situated in a main shopping center, making
shopping convenient and easy. There is adequate space for the display of goods.
         The multiple shops and chain stores follow a different principle, aiming
not at a complex organization all under one roof but at a large number of
branches in every town or district where there is a promising market for trade.
All these branches are centrally directed from a head office. So, as you come out
of almost any London Tube station, you will see the same chemist, the same
fruiterer, dairy, tea-shop, provision dealer or ready-made clothier.
         There is a difference between these two types. Multiple shops specialize
in one type of goods at various prices, e.g. Sainsbury’s (groceries), W.H.
Smith’s (books). Chain stores e.g. Woolworth’s or Marks & Spencer’s, will sell
a wide range of goods but at certain fixed low prices. As these organizations, of
either type, buy in enormous quantities they can eliminate the wholesaler; and,
as they often manufacture goods to their own requirements, they can take over
the functions of the producer too. With this mass production there goes
extensive standardization in price, in appearance and lay-out of the shops, in
their fittings, counters, goods, packing and form of display; and, as there is
practically no salesmanship required in the selling of such goods, unskilled