Wholesale Trade in Rio de Janeiro (1855-1900): Spatial Patterns and Processes

Abstract

In the second half of the Nineteenth Century the separation of land uses in the
City of Rio de Janeiro began to unfold with greater intensity and this process is analyzed through spatial patterns involving wholesale merchants between 1855 and 1900. Our premise is that wholesalers are not just responsible for the storage and marketing of bulk products but also play an important role in commercial intermediation. The relationship between the spatial scales of production and consumption should not be underestimated, especially in a world still characterized by difficult and slow communications. The marketing chain of coffee exports is presented as a special case and is analyzed in two sub-periods, which allow for more detailed spatial analysis.