Department stores are often believed to have originated in France, but Amr Kamal, associate professor of French and Arabic at City College, uncovers a more complex history in his new book, Emporialism.
Kamal’s interest in the subject began while pursuing his PhD in Comparative Literature at the University of Michigan. During an independent study, he explored the history of post-colonial spaces in the Middle East and noticed a fascination with department stores. “There was this whole romanticized idea about department stores,” he recalled. That curiosity shaped his dissertation and, eventually, the foundation of his book.
After moving to New York, Kamal spent a decade researching, traveling frequently to Egypt and France to study archival materials. His work revealed that while the first documented department store—Le Bon Marché—opened in Paris in 1838, its design and function were heavily influenced by the tented bazaars of Cairo and Turkey. He also noted key cultural differences: Egyptian department stores carried a distinctly French romantic flair, while the French versions were seen as “non-European, and a space of decadence.”
“These two contrasting images across the Mediterranean, one from Egypt, thinking, comparing the spaces to France, and Paris comparing their own spaces to the Middle East, to the Bazaar” shaped how department stores were imagined, Kamal explained.
Beyond commerce, these spaces carried deep social and cultural impact. They provided women with new opportunities to enter public life, subtly challenging patriarchal norms.
“So it was quite revolutionary in that sense. And that became part of the fabric – that space, the imagination and fascination of that space,” he said. “ That was actually the, the most dominant kind of mindset, the fear of women in public spaces.”
Emporialism won honorable mention for the ALCA Rendé Wellek Book Prize.
Emma is an undergraduate student at Baruch College, where she is studying Journalism and Psychology. She’s Editor-in-Chief for Dollars & Sense magazine and Business Editor for The Ticker newspaper. As well as a freelance writer at BK Reader.