Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/2295

Title

Rural Australian retail grocery innovation 1929-36 : Clary Hill & Co.

Author(s)

Hill, Railton M.

Abstract

During a period of seven years spanning much of the Great Depression, 1929 –36, Clary Hill & Co. introduced a number of significant innovations to Australian rural grocery retailing in the Riverina district of New South Wales, Australia. An approach to business which owes much to Clary and Elsie Hill’s ethical beliefs, a dynamic, forward looking approach to technology, and a willingness to try new business models and methods saw two particular innovations which appear to have been radical for their time and location. The first is the use of long distance haulage via semi-trailer trucks in supply logistics. The second is the use of a ‘cash-and-carry’ retail model that presages ‘self service’ and the modern supermarket, at a date well before other reported similar innovations in this area. The paper offers an example of historical research of a type that may help overcome an evident gap in our knowledge of the development of grocery retailing in Australia.

Publication type

Conference paper

Research centre

Swinburne University of Technology. Faculty of Business and Enterprise

Source

Proceedings of the 12th Bi-annual Conference on Historical Analysis and Research in Marketing, 28 April-1 May 2005, Long Beach, California, USA

Publication year

2005

Publisher

Quinnipiac University

Publisher URL

http://faculty.quinnipiac.edu/charm/

Peer reviewed