Kōrero: Department stores and shopping malls

This 1931 advertisement in the New Zealand Free Lance for Wellington’s premier department store, Kirkcaldie & Stains, does not pretend people have money to spare in the depths of the economic depression. It presents 'smart thrifty ideas' for special-occasion and beach wear over the Christmas holiday period. The depression hit in the heyday of the department store. Prices fell as stores put survival ahead of profits.