Eluding the point is not the same as alluding, though maybe more to the point… Anyway, I don’t know much about the subject, but Lapidus’ work seems to be a bit later than were’re talking about, as regards the storefront. I’m sure the availability of (relatively) inexpensive plate glass changed a lot of things, but this article refers to designs that drew customers into the store where they could handle goods. The old storefronts like aKa had deep-set entrances that created more window space up front which didn’t reveal the store, but allowed all of the stock to be displayed from the street, so that the customer literally “window shopped” and then simply went in an asked the clerk for what they wanted based on what they’d seen from outside. Sucking the customer in so that the clerks can sell them things they didn’t know they wanted is a later technique. Everything up front goes back to the ancient form of the store, where the goods were displayed in front of the merchants living quarters, and taken in at night when a protective barrier was closed across the storefront, something that goes on in NY to this day.
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- alex 7-09-2004 7:47 am