General line of merchandise, or general merchandise, is a retail and wholesale business model in which a store carries a broad range of goods rather than limiting itself to one particular category, as a general store does. Under the North American Industry Classification System, stores specializing in a single category, such as building and home improvement materials, groceries, or used goods, are formally excluded from the general merchandise line, though general stores in practice still commonly carry some basic groceries, limited produce, hardware, and gardening tools alongside their broader stock.
Facts
Core MechanismA general-merchandise retailer stocks a broad mix of goods across many categories under one roof instead of specializing in a single line, competing on convenience and breadth rather than depth in any one category. The North American Industry Classification System draws the boundary of the format by explicit exclusion, ruling out any retailer whose stock is dominated by one category, such as a general line of groceries (grouped instead under supermarkets) or a general line of home improvement materials (grouped under home centres); in practice, general stores in rural settings still carry basic groceries and hardware alongside everything else, blurring the classification's own line. 1 Partially Attested
Origin YearNo source names a founding year for the general-merchandise retail format itself, which predates any formal classification; 2002 marks the North American Industry Classification System revision the cited source itself dates, the only year the article gives, not the format's true origin. Connections
Associated With
A general line of merchandise, a retailer stocking a full assortment of unrelated product categories rather than specializing in one, describes the department and variety store structure long established in the retail industry.
Sears built its catalog and department store business by carrying a broad, unrelated assortment of merchandise under one roof, the standard example of the general line of merchandise model.
Sources
1. Wikipedia, General line of merchandise
WikipediaLead section, final sentence on general stores' actual stock
Regardless of this classification system, general stores indeed carry basic grocery items, often limited produce, basic hardware and gardening tools, and other necessaries of rural life.
Lead section, NAICS 2002 classification paragraph
According to the North American Industry Classification System 2002, the following types of general merchandise are excluded from the line carried by general stores:
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