Lighting the first store by electricity

The first electric light to be used in any retail establishment blazed forth on December 26, 1878, in John Wanamaker´s department store in Philadelphia. People watching the light being turned on laid wagers that it could not be kept lighted. They also predicted that a store which used such surprising innovations would cease to be. The electric light which was turned on in the Wanamaker store, was a Jablochkoff candle. It was one of the earlier types of the electric arc light.