It’s an anniversary that most Americans can celebrate — the birthday of the big-box store. Discount shopping as we know it began 50 years ago. In 1962, enterprising retailers invented Wal-Mart, Target and Kmart.
These stores changed the way we shop and the way we think about price. Historian Marc Levinson, author of The Great A&P and the Struggle for Small Business in America, talked to NPR’s Linda Wertheimer about what happened all those years ago, and how the stores will continue to evolve in the Internet age.
Interview Highlights
On why 1962 was the year of the big-box store
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