Colonial goods store
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Colonial goods stores are retailers of foods and other consumer goods imported from European colonies, called colonial goods. During the nineteenth century, they formed a distinct category of retailer in much of Europe, specializing in imported, non-perishable dry goods like coffee, tea, spices, rice, sugar, cocoa and chocolate, and tobacco.[1][2]
By the mid-twentieth century, these stores had become general grocery stores selling a variety of commodities that were easy to store, as contrasted with greengrocers, butchers, bakers, fishmongers, and so on. With the advent of supermarkets, the name "colonial stores" continued to be used, despite the end of colonialism, for small, independent stores.
Such stores existed across Europe. In German, they were called Kolonialwaren 'colonial goods', in French, comptoir des colonies 'colonial store', in Italian, coloniali 'colonials',[3] and in Spanish and Portuguese, ultramarinos 'overseas (goods)'. The luxury grocer Hédiard started as a colonial goods store, originally named Comptoir d'épices et des colonies. In Britain, Home and Colonial Stores became a major retail chain.