Retail markets and shops have a very ancient history, dating back to antiquity. Over the centuries, retail shops were transformed from little more than "rude booths" to the sophisticated shopping malls that we know today. Retailing involves the process of selling consumer goods or services to customers through multiple channels of distribution to earn a profit. Retailers satisfy demand identified through a supply chain. Some of the earliest retailers were itinerant peddlers. The term "retailer" is typically applied where a service provider fills the small orders of a large number of individuals, who are end-users, rather than large orders of a small number of wholesale, corporate or government clientele. Shopping generally refers to the act of buying products. Sometimes this is done to obtain final goods, including necessities such as food and clothing; sometimes it takes place as a recreational activity. Recreational shopping often involves window shopping (just looking, not buying) and browsing: it does not always result in a purchase.

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Alberta (; French: [albɛʁta]) is a province of Canada. With an estimated population of 4,067,175 people as of the 2016 census, it is Canada's fourth most populous province and the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces. Its area is about 660,000 square kilometres (250,000 sq mi). Alberta and Saskatchewan were formerly districts of the Northwest Territories until they were established as provinces on September 1, 1905.Alberta is bordered by the provinces of British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Territories to the north, and the U.S. state of Montana to the south. Alberta is one of three Canadian provinces and territories to border only a single U.S. state. It is also one of only two landlocked provinces in the country. The province has a predominantly humid continental climate, with stark contrasts over a year; but seasonal temperature average swings are smaller than in areas further east, due to winters being warmed by occasional chinook winds bringing sudden warming.Alberta's capital, Edmonton, is near the geographic centre of the province and is the primary supply and service hub for Canada's crude oil, the Athabasca oil sands and other northern resource industries.About 290 km (180 mi) south of the capital is Calgary, the largest city in Alberta. Calgary and Edmonton centre Alberta's two census metropolitan areas, both of which have populations exceeding one million, while the province has 16 census agglomerations.Tourist destinations in the province include: Banff, Canmore, Drumheller, Jasper, Sylvan Lake and Lake Louise. Alberta is home to six UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks, Dinosaur Provincial Park, the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, Waterton–Glacier International Peace Park, Wood Buffalo National Park, and Writing-on-Stone / Áísínai'pi.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/