Farmers – Your Store for 100 years by Ian Hunter. Card covers with 304 pages and illustrated with many monochrome and colour photographs. First Edition published by Harper Collins, Auckland in 2009.

Started in 1909, Farmers has become New Zealand's best-loved and largest chain of fashion department stores. Originally a mail-order business, Farmers soon spread with stores throughout the country.

Leading the way in retail innovations, Farmers was more than just a retail business. Farmers' promotions, hire-purchase shopping, Christmas parades, community initiatives, playgrounds, tearooms, Santa Bears, and many more have all been enjoyed by generations of New Zealanders.

Chapters:

• The beginning
• Catalogues
• How the Farmers name came to be
• Move to Hobson Street store
• Farmers' Week 1917-1921
• Branches and rural life
• Farmers in wartime
• Changing retail patterns
• Credit
• Santa parades
• Santa Bear
• Royal visit and crown jewels - 1977
• Hector
• Hector's harbour race
• Early South Island connection
• Parking at Farmers
• Tearooms at Farmers
• Factories
• Transport
• Distribution and support
• Elevators and escalators
• Grocery and self-service
• Rise of the shopping mall
• Decimal currency
• Computerisation
• Mickey Mouse
• Hobson Street fire
• Move to the Mainland
• The eighties
• A time of turmoil
• Suppliers
• Farmers acquired by Deka
• Repositioning of Farmers
• Farmers people
• The heart of Farmers
• Farmers returns to New Zealand ownership
• Today and tomorrow

This local book is in excellent condition with some fading to the spine and comes from a smoke-free home.