Final answer:
Stores providing brand-name merchandise at reduced prices are known as discount stores or outlets. They participate in an economy of monopolistic competition, along with department stores and mail-order houses, which historically helped shape national consumer behaviors by offering a wide array of products through various marketing strategies.
Step-by-step explanation:
Stores that offer an assortment of brand-name merchandise at significant discounts off the manufacturer's suggested retail price are part of a retail category often termed discount stores or outlets. These stores can afford to provide lower prices due to various strategies such as bulk purchasing, less frills in presentation, and lower overhead costs compared to traditional department stores. The appeal of discount stores lies in the consumer's desire to find the products they want at more accessible prices, fitting within a larger framework of monopolistic competition in the retail industry, where numerous firms offer differentiated but similarly purposed goods.
Advances in transportation and communication have historically expanded markets for consumer products and given rise to retail establishments like the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, modern department stores pioneered by John Wanamaker in Philadelphia, and discount retailers like Woolworth's. These stores and others utilized innovations in marketing, such as the extensive Sears mail-order catalog, to reach a national audience and to help standardize consumer behavior across diverse regions. This evolution has since led to retail landscapes like the Mall of America, where a plethora of stores, each with its own brand identity and product range, compete within the same space to attract different segments of consumers.