Retail is a dynamic and ever-changing industry that plays a critical role in the global economy. From brick-and-mortar stores to online retailers, retail businesses serve the needs of consumers by offering a wide range of products and services. Retail trivia questions are a great way to test your knowledge of this exciting industry and to learn more about the trends, innovations, and challenges that are shaping retail today.
This list of retail trivia questions covers a wide range of topics and is designed to challenge your understanding of the retail industry. Some of the questions are straightforward and can be answered by simple recall, while others require a deeper understanding of the subject matter. Regardless of your level of expertise, this list of retail trivia questions is sure to be both educational and entertaining.
Whether you're a retail professional, a consumer, or simply someone who is interested in learning more about this dynamic and ever-changing industry, this list of retail trivia questions is sure to provide you with hours of enjoyment and learning. So why not put your knowledge to the test and see how you fare? Let's explore the exciting world of retail and see how much you really know!
124 Retail Trivia Questions Ranked From Easiest to Hardest (Updated for 2024)
- What kind of animal was Geoffrey, the longtime mascot of the currently-defunct retailer Toys "R" Us?
Answer: giraffe
- The Snoopy Astronaut doll soared to popularity in 1969, a year after the character became the safety mascot for what U.S. government organization?
Answer: NASA
- Which of the world's 25 largest retail companies was founded by a 17-year-old Swede named Ingvar Kamprad?
Answer: IKEA
- Bailey Jankowski’s clothing retailer, the Maine Lifestyle Company, is based out of what “B” Maine city? The city name sounds like someone who makes beer, or perhaps plays baseball in Milwaukee.
Answer: Brewer, Maine
- What online retailer of mattresses, founded in in California in 2016, sounds like it might be just as appealing to hummingbirds as it is to humans?
Answer: Nectar Sleep
- Money back guaranteed if you don't like this question: What 3-letter network has made home shopping into a multi-billion dollar business? But wait, there's more! It's owned by Qurate Retail Group. HSN is its sister station. Lori Greiner is its "Queen." Operators standing by for your answer.
Answer: QVC
- In 2012, Cadillac Fairview bought out the leases of what retailer for $400 million? Many of the locations later became Nordstroms.
Answer: Sears
- What is the name of the international retail music franchise that was founded and based in Sacramento from 1960 until its bankruptcy in 2006?
Answer: Tower Records
- Madam's Organ, a bar in DC's Adams Morgan neighborhood, sits at the site of the original "Children's Bargaintown" store, opened in 1948, and which would eventually become what retail juggernaut? The last US stores, sadly, closed in 2021.
Answer: Toys R Us
- Which supermarket chain headquartered in Florida was started by the Jenkins family in 1903 and is the biggest employee-owned company in America?
Answer: Publix
- On June 15, 2020 large lines queued outside the Nike Town store in Oxford Circus as it was the first time that non-essential retail was open in months in what city?
Answer: London
- The multinational retail group that is made up of the two retail divisions Lidl and Kaufland, and which is Europe’s largest retailer, is headquartered in which country?
Answer: Germany
- In which peachy southern state will you find The Home Depot headquarters?
Answer: Georgia
- Known for its multi-story auto "vending machines," what Arizona-based online retailer's name is a combo of a type of automobile and a concept from Buddhism?
Answer: Carvana
- A contemporary art museum on Sampsonia Way in Pittsburgh with site-specific installations is the ______ Factory. Fill in the one word blank, which makes it sound like a retail outlet for people who are having a hard time sleeping.
Answer: Mattress Factory
- In 2022, what “M” holding company of Facebook announced it would be opening retail space in order to showcase virtual reality technology?
Answer: Meta
- EDLP guarantees shoppers they’ll always get a good deal shopping with you—no need to wait for a sale. What does EDLP stand for?
Answer: Everday Low Price
- What’s the term for an extended purchase promise when you buy something big, like an appliance or computer? (Hint: The “lifetime guarantee” refers to the product’s life—not yours!)
Answer: Warranty
- A co-_____(co-op for short) is a kind of business that isn’t owned by just a small group of people. Instead, lots of people—including consumers—can own a part of it.
Answer: Operative
- In June 2020, Cadillac Fairvew released a mobile app for iOS and Android that was developed to "enhance the Canadian shopping experience, at home or in CF shopping centers, and deliver additional support for retailers." The name of this app was ______ by CF. What word fills in the blank?
Answer: LiVE
- Which term applies to a shop that sells products other people own, then takes a cut of the sale (usually as a percentage, like 60/40)?
Answer: Consignment
- What used car retailer, which now operates over 200 outlets across the U.S., opened its first location in Richmond in 1993?
Answer: CarMax
- In January 2021, phrases like “$GME,” “To the moon,” and “Stonks” became part of normal American parlance as which nerdy retail company’s share price skyrocketed unexpectedly?
Answer: GameStop
- Despite being known as a summertime and warm-weather treat, what state was the location of the first Ben & Jerry's ice cream store?
Answer: Vermont
- What landmark NYC event began as a way to celebrate Christmas and as a retail expansion in 1924 before shifting earlier in the annual calendar by 1927?
Answer: Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
- Usually known for far pricier designs, in 2017 Victoria Beckham collaborated with what "bull's-eye" retailer on a collection of more than 200 items priced from $6 to $70?
Answer: Target
- In 2015, what Atlanta-based retailer was No. 4 on the National Retail Federation's list of largest retail chains by revenue?
Answer: The Home Depot
- The aptly-named Archer Farms is the up-market grocery brand of what U.S. big box store?
Answer: Target
- What upscale retailer was founded in Austin in 1978 by John Mackey and Renee Lawson? The small store was initially called SaferWay, as a spoof of Safeway.
Answer: Whole Foods Market
- By the late 1980s, Walmart had quickly risen to become more profitable that its two larger U.S. retail competitors, and by 1990 it had surpassed them as the largest U.S. retailer by revenue. One of these retailers was Kmart. What was the other?
Answer: Sears
- In 2016, Walmart acquired what Omaha, Nebraska based retail website that specializes in furniture and decor? It’s one word “H” name, two words stuck together, implies that its products may be difficult to find.
Answer: Hayneedle
- Mainstays is the store brand for home goods and decor of which American retail giant?
Answer: Wal-Mart
- A permanent art installation just outside the town of Marfa in West Texas is built to resemble what high-end retail store?
Answer: Prada
- Founded as a store named "Free People" by three students in an entrepreneurship class at the University of Pennsylvania in 1970, what is the retailer that primarily targets "hipster subculture" for teens and young adults? This company received the National Preservation Honor Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation for their office in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.
Answer: Urban Outfitters
- One does not need to be an origami master to know that a poker player dealt a really bad hand and an associate at a retail clothing store could both be described as a WHAT?
Answer: Folder
- What international confectionery manufacturer and chocolate retailer was founded in 1981 in Durango, Colorado, and is named for a large mountain range in that region?
Answer: Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory
- After Dayton, Ohio served as home for 125 years, the electronics company NCR relocated to Duluth, Georgia in 2009. What do these initials stand for? The company grew by selling the value proposition that their product would help stores deter theft from retail clerks, and they were the first to sell the mechanical version of their flagship product.
Answer: National Cash Register
- What “K” Company, founded in Cincinnati, OH in 1883, runs a series of grocery and departmental stores across the United States? These include their own namesake grocery stores (with licensed store brand food products), Ralphs, and Food 4 Less.
Answer: The Kroger Company
- The 6th largest privately held company (by 2014 revenue) in the US is a famed manufacturer of both confectionaries and pet food. What is this celestially-named company?
Answer: Mars
- What Canadian retail business, now a department store owner in modern day Canada, was a largely fur trading company that traded with Indigenous Canadians starting in the 17th century? It was named for a large bay that touches four provinces, discovered by Sir Henry in 1610.
Answer: Hudson's Bay Company
- With room for around 150 tenants, Promenade Shopping Centre is a massive retail location opened in 1986 and formerly owned by Cadillac Fairview. In what "T" city would this mall be found?
Answer: Thornhill
- What New York based online luxury mattress retailer, founded in 2011 by Ron Rudzin and Ricky Joshi, gets its “S” name from the Sanskrit word meaning “pure”?
Answer: Saatva
- The largest of the brands owned by Inditex, what fast-fashion retail chain got its start in Galicia, Spain in 1975 as a store named Zorba?
Answer: Zara
- Issaquah, Washington boasts the headquarters of what third-largest U.S. retailer?
Answer: Costco
- From 1961 to 1981 the Minnesota Vikings called a multi-sport stadium its home. That stadium has since been replaced by what famous retail complex?
Answer: Mall of America
- Unsurprisingly, when the first Nike retail store opened in 1990 it was in the nearby city of Portland. This store was located at the corner of Southwest Sixth Avenue and what fishy street name?
Answer: Salmon Street
- In November 2019, a Minneapolis-based retailer announced that it met its goal of 500 locations with installed rooftop solar panels one year ahead of schedule. What is this company?
Answer: Target
- In June 1981, Walmart acquired a regional retailer named Kuhn's-Big K which had been founded by the Kuhn brothers in 1913 in what U.S. state?
Answer: Tennessee
- Quicken Loans is the largest online retail mortgage lender in the US, but is not based in a high-tech hub such as Silicon Valley or New York. Rather, it is headquartered in the downtown financial district of what US city?
Answer: Detroit
- What hardware store chain with a rhyming name was previously a retailer-owned cooperative, but is now owned by equity firm ACON Investments?
Answer: True Value
- In the 1990s, Walmart went global for the first time when partnering with Cifra, who was a retailer in what country?
Answer: Mexico
- Since 2011, the home stadium of Leicester City F.C. has been named after what Thai travel retail company, which also owns the team?
Answer: King Power
- Walmart owns what chain of membership-only retail warehouse clubs, opened in 1983?
Answer: Sam's Club
- Cadillac Fairview invests in retail around the world, including Multiplan malls located in what country, whose largest city is Sao Paulo?
Answer: Brazil
- In January 2021, a short squeeze orchestrated by Reddit users caused a skyrocketing of the price of what retail chain that sells video games and consumer electronics?
Answer: GameStop
- What “A” drug, a GnRH antagonist with the retail name of Plenaxis, is used reduce the testosterone in patients with advanced prostate cancer?
Answer: Abarelix
- Dublin, California is the headquarters of what discount department store chain, whose slogan is “Dress For Less?”
Answer: Ross Dress For Less
- What retail chain had an ad campaign in 2013, where customers "shipped their pants?"
Answer: Kmart
- What retail giant is the eighth largest retailer in the United States and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota?
Answer: Target
- What nautical word precedes “store” in a term used for a dominant brand in a shopping center, typically located in a prime retail location?
Answer: Anchor
- What “N” national department store company has headquarters in Seattle, Washington, and has branches of relatively discounted stores known as “______ Rack?”
Answer: Nordstrom
- Retail employees Randal and Dante earnestly discuss the killing of innocent civilians on the Second Death Star in "Return of the Jedi," in what 1994 black-and-white Kevin Smith film?
Answer: Clerks
- Which term is used to describe a retailer that sells many different products under the roof of a giant physical location which is often part of a chain? (Hint: Walmart is an example)
Answer: Big Box Store
- What nautical term describes the big-name retailers like Sears and Macy’s that are usually positioned at each end of a mall?
Answer: Anchor Store
- “Brick and click” refers to retailers that have both physical locations and which type of electric, online selling services?
Answer: Ecommerce
- Electronic article surveillance, like special tags that trigger alarms or hard-to-open packaging on the most expensive items in a store, are methods to prevent which type of thievery?
Answer: Shoplifting
- If you’re looking up a car you’re thinking about buying in the Kelley Blue Book and you think you’ll want to negotiate the cost, it’ll help to know that MSRP is an acronym for what?
Answer: Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price
- Woolworth's was the classic American "five and dime" company, but by the 1980's, only its sporting goods department was thriving. Deciding to focus on its strengths, the retailer dropped everything but sporting goods, and adopted what new name, trading on the NYSE under the symbol FL?
Answer: Foot Locker
- Average transaction ______ (ATS) can tell you how much a customer typically spends at your store. (Hint: Sometimes the term “value” is used, too)
Answer: Size
- Which chain of convenience stores with a double-digit, rhyming, numerical name is known for the Big Gulp and Slurpee?
Answer: 7-Eleven
- Home Depot’s own line of hand tools has the slogan “the toughest name in tools.” What is the name of that brand? (Hint: It’s also the name of a cold-loving dog breed that would be pumped to pull a sled you built yourself!)
Answer: Husky
- Which grocery chain founded by two German brothers in 1946 is known for selling typical supermarket fare at low prices, plus its own custom brands like Grandessa, Millville, Happy Farms, and Simply Nature?
Answer: Aldi
- Which American department store based in Wisconsin carries many “big name” and celebrity brands (like Vera Wang and Jennifer Lopez) as well as its own line of clothing and furnishings (including Croft & Barrow and Sonoma Goods for Life)?
Answer: Kohl's
- As its name suggests, Bed, Bath, & ______ is an American retail chain that specializes in home goods—and more!
Answer: Beyond
- “There’s a helpful smile in every aisle” of which American chain of employee-owned grocery stores?
Answer: Hy-Vee
- Which American hardware store cooperative that’s based in Chicago is “the place with the helpful hardware folks” not just in the U.S., but in 60 countries worldwide?
Answer: Ace
- Which pricing strategy describes when the retail price is double that of the wholesale price?
Answer: Keystone
- Who has been The Home Depot’s mascot since 1981, and is the namesake of the company’s charity program? (Hint: Given his first name you might guess his wife’s name is Marge but it’s Daisy)
Answer: Homer D. Poe
- If you don’t have enough of a product in stock to meet demand at the moment, but you’ve got more coming from the supplier, which B term could you use as the status of the product?
Answer: Backorder
- A store’s physical location is often called “brick and ______ (B&M),” which harkens back to the days when most buildings were made of these materials.
Answer: Mortar
- In the 6 Ps of retail marketing, the assortment of which P refers to the number of things you offer as well as the variety of those things?
Answer: Product
- Which type of retailer with a cozy-sounding name mostly sells goods that are single-use (e.g., toiletries) but may last up to a couple of years (e.g., an average pair of shoes)?
Answer: Softline
- “Flash retail” is another term for which type of store that seems to appear all of a sudden and is meant for short-term sales—for example, capitalizing on a week-long event in a city?
Answer: Pop-up
- What type of facility (abbreviated “DC”) receives products from various manufacturers and groups them to be shipped off to their final destinations (e.g., retailers)?
Answer: Distribution Center
- Marketers often use the STP approach to develop a strategy for getting customers. STP stands for Segmentation, _______, and Positioning.
Answer: Targeting
- Which marketing strategy involves selling a product for less than the market cost (even if it means it’s not profitable) with the goal of getting people to buy more expensive products? For example, advertising a low-cost item to entice people to come into the store and buy more items?
Answer: Loss leader
- The ______ Product Code (UPC) has been helping cashiers ring up groceries since it was standardized for identifying and tracking items in 1973.
Answer: Universal
- H-E-B is actually an initialism; the Texas-based grocery chain is named for the family that started it. What was their positively posterior last name?
Answer: Butt
- Which American grocery store chain with a big bird name has stores in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, and Maryland?
Answer: Giant Eagle
- Which supermarket chain based in Maine and serving New England and New York was founded by brothers Arthur, Edward, and Howard, who gave it their last name? (Hint: For a while, some of the stores were called Shop ‘n Save)
Answer: Hannaford
- What home goods retailer, whose stock-ticker symbol is BBBY, has warned it may file for bankruptcy soon, and will be closing its Brandywine Town Center store in 2023?
Answer: Bed Bath and Beyond
- Bloomingdale’s is a well-known name for NYC shoppers, but the store is actually a subsidiary of what even bigger name in luxury department stores that’s famous for its yearly festive parade in the city?
Answer: Macy's
- Which American retailer that sells goods for your cat, dog, fish, or other companion animal has a name that has confused shoppers for decades since it’s a combination of two words that can technically be broken up in two different ways to make two different phrases? (Hint: Only one is correct if you go according to the capitalization style of the logo)
Answer: PetSmart
- What Swedish fast-fashion brand acquired half of its brand name after the 1968 acquisition of hunting apparel retailer Mauritz Widforss?
Answer: H & M
- If you just plonked down $200 for an ounce and a half of Le Labo Santal 33, what liquid thing did you just buy?
Answer: Perfume
- What wholesale and retail market in Southwark, London, is one of the biggest and oldest food market in the city? Its name is used in the United States for administrative divisions, most famously of New York City.
Answer: Borough Market
- In January 2018 Bernard Arnault passed Mark Zuckerberg as the fifth richest person in the world. Which luxury fashion brand/retail giant does Bernard Arnault control? (we are looking for the name of the parent company, not just any one of the 70+ brands it owns).
Answer: LVMH
- What U.S. retailer was founded in 1986 in the Phoenix area and owns private brands "Grreat Choice," "Authority," and "Simply Nourish"? In 2005, they had a very subtle re-brand in which they decided to capitalize the letter S instead of the letter M in the middle of the company's name.
Answer: PetSmart
- What is the name of the retail magnate who titled his or her autobiography "Made in America?"
Answer: Sam Walton
- On Bloor St in West Toronto, there is a retail establishment named The Monkey Paw with a customized vending machine. When a customer inserts a token, rather than receive a snack or beverage, they receive what edifying object?
Answer: A book
- The Chicago Board of Trade shut down in 1906 to honor the death of what local retail titan? His namesake chain was later acquired by Macy's.
Answer: Marshall Field
- Actually kind of terrible at putting people to sleep, the Dreamcast was a video game console model released by what ginormous entertainment company?
Answer: Sega
- Richard George founded what cosmetics retailer in 1990? Today, each location of the retailer includes a salon, Benefit brow bar and Dermalogica skin bar.
Answer: Ulta Beauty
- Founded in 1884 in Leeds, the acronym M&S refers to what UK retail giant whose products include clothing, home accessories, flowers, and furniture?
Answer: Marks & Spencer
- "Carve Yourself a Piece of the American Dream" is the subtitle to Ed Valenti's book about the wisdom gleaned from what not-really-Japanese knives?
Answer: Ginsu
- The first Apple store was opened in 2001 after years of failed "store-within-a-store" concepts at other chains. This location was located in Tysons Corner in what U.S. state?
Answer: Virginia
- What is the name of the department store in the movie "Elf" that is modeled after the real-life Macy's in New York City?
Answer: Gimbels
- Kevin Plank remains the CEO of what apparel company that he founded in 1996?
Answer: Under Armour
- During a period of rapid early growth at Nike in the mid 1960s, the company's first East Coast retail location was opened in what Massachusetts town?
Answer: Wellesley
- What chain of 45 retail stores across the Midwest that sells outdoor equipment and appliances was founded in Minnesota, features an orange-and-black color scheme, and has an alliterative F name?
Answer: Fleet Farm
- Greensboro's International Civil Rights Center and Museum sits at the site of a former franchise of what now defunct retail chain? The sit-ins that took place here over five months in 1960 forced this company to end the practice of segregation at their lunch counters.
Answer: F. W. Woolworth
- What department store had the mottoes "As Chicago as it gets" and "Give the lady what she wants" at different points in its history? The company was eventually acquired by Macy's in 2005.
Answer: Marshall Field's
- If you're looking at an alphabetically-sorted list of all the stores and restaurants in Toronto's Fairview Mall, every letter in the first half of the alphabet except for ONE, will be represented as the first letter of a retail location. What is this lonely letter that does not begin the name of any establishment?
Answer: I (i)
- Which American grocery store chain based in Michigan was the first to do the “supercenter” or “hypermarket” retail concept when it hit the scene in 1962?
Answer: Meijer
- What apparel company was founded in 1818 in New York City and is considered by many to be the oldest US retail company still in existence today?
Answer: Brooks Brothers
- In 2020, Walmart acquired the British supermarket chain ASDA. ASDA also operates a clothing retailer under what name, also the first name of the winner of the 1953 Nobel Prize for advocating US aid for Europe after World War II?
Answer: George
- Announced in January 2018, Keurig Green Mountain plans on acquiring with another beverage company named after what flagship American soda brand?
Answer: Dr. Pepper
- In 2017, what famous five-letter American retail company organized a new parent company "Tapestry" for its various fashion portfolio brands?
Answer: Coach
- What Nike "T" sneaker was a top-seller in 2019, retails for ~$65 on the Nike website, and has a name from the Japanese word for "simplicity?"
Answer: Nike Tanjun
- In 2019, Nike partnered with what retailer to open the first-of-its-kind “Nike Community Power Store” in Manhattan? The 9,000-square-foot location was part of the retailer's footprint of 3,200 stores around the world.
Answer: Foot Locker
- In May 2009, a company co-founder of e-commerce prescription glasses retailer Warby Parker discovered a Jack Kerouac exhibit featuring the characters Warby Pepper and Zagg Parker, which led to the naming of his new startup. In what New York institution was this founder wandering?
Answer: Public Library
- Retail titan and founder of Amazon Jeff Bezos attended what Ivy League school?
Answer: Princeton
- What regional supermarket chain with only 95 locations, but over $7 billion in annual revenue has been ranked in the top 10 on Fortune's annual "100 Best Companies to Work For" list for 8 consecutive years?
Answer: Wegmans
- At the height of Frank Lloyd Wright's career in 1927, he surprised contemporaries by designing what type of retail outlet? The design was part of his utopian city concept and although intended for Buffalo, NY the structure was eventually built in Cloquet, MN where it remains in business.
Answer: Gas Station
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About the Author
Eli Robinson is the Chief Trivia Officer at Water Cooler Trivia. He was once in a Bruce Springsteen cover band called F Street Band.
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