Beyond the Piggly Wiggly: Inventing the American Self-Service Store

During the 1920s and 1930s a minority of enterprising grocers experimented with a wide variety of (sometimes wacky) design ideas for automating shopping. They created specialized stores designed as enclosed retail systems that went far beyond open display techniques to construct unique physical and psychological advantages for automating salesmanship. Dr. Lisa Tolbert of UNC-G offers the first perspective on the national scale of experimentation and connects the southern Jim Crow origins of self- service to the national history of this mass retailing method. This venue has accessible parking and seating, as well as an elevator. Call 336-318-6803 for more information.