Includes bibliographical references (pages 283-344) and index. Law Library's copy donated by Amy Koopmann. IaU-L
Summary:
"From modest beginnings as a tea shop, the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company became the largest retailer in the world. It was a juggernaut, with nearly sixteen thousand stores. But its explosive growth made it a mortal threat to mom-and-pop grocery stores across the nation. Main Street fought back tooth and nail, leading the Hoover, Roosevelt, and Truman administrations to investigate the Great A&P. In a remarkable court case, the government pressed criminal charges against the company for selling food too cheaply--and won. This book tells the story of a struggle that raged for three decades between small business and big business, between Americans' support for a capitalist economy on one hand and their eagerness to protect local merchants from the ravages of competition on the other. George and John Hartford took over their father's business and reshaped it again and again, turning it into a vertically integrated behemoth that paved the way for every big-box retailer to come. George demanded a rock-solid balance sheet; John was the marketer-entrepreneur who led A&P through seven decades of rapid changes. Together, they set the stage for the modern consumer economy by turning an archaic retail industry into a highly efficient system for distributing food at low cost. The second edition includes a new postscript examining the contrasts between A&P's power over the grocery market in the 1920s and 1930s and the power of Amazon today"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.