Toward a history of the business of Black power / Laura Warren Hill and Julia Rabig -- Fighting for the soul of Black capitalism : struggles for Black economic development in postrebellion Rochester / Laura Warren Hill -- A McDonald's that reflects the soul of a people : Hough Area Development...

Introduction: corner store folklore -- From grog shops to grocery stores -- The keys to modernization -- Trust brokers on the road -- Avoiding the middleman -- Making small business big -- Conclusion: looking backward, moving forward

Politics and patronage -- Small business on the New Frontier -- The entrepreneurial era -- Crisis and consolidation -- The agony of Hilary Sandoval -- The small scandal administration -- Small business in an age of big government -- Eternal life

From modest beginnings as a tea shop in New York, the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company became the largest retailer in the world. It was a juggernaut, the first retailer to sell 1 billion dollars in goods, the owner of nearly sixteen thousand stores and dozens of factories and warehouses. But...