U8 - Arnold: Fashion: A Very Short Introduction - description of Comme des Garcons' new guerrilla store

On page 67 of Arnold's book, you can find a description of a guerrilla store set up by the fashion label Comme des Garcons. 

Here, I've listed some vocabulary for you to review before reading. I've also edited out all of the definite and indefinite articles. 

You decide if a/ an / the goes in the blank, given the context of the description. 

VOCABULARY:
1.  to keep with its environment = to be similar to its surroundings
2. a shell of a building = a building's skeleton, so to speak
3. to remain intact = to not be destroyed or deteriorated over history, remain original in shape
4. tiling = ceramic floors
5. patchy plasterwork = places on the wall where one can see where it was repaired
6. fittings in the rough walls = fittings are the tubes for water in the walls; rough means unrefined
7. Cabinets = containers for clothing, or dishes in a room
8. lopsided = uneven
9. battered seats = old, broken chairs
10. bare, metal rails = metal tubes with no paint 
11. a stack = a pile
12. rawness = crudeness
13. to be at the forefront = to be the leader in a sector; leading the way...

  pp. 67-68

"In 2007, Comme des Garcons opened 1___ new 'guerrilla store' in Warsaw.  Scheduled to remain there for just one year, it was part of a programme of similar 'pop-up' shops by 2____ label; the first was in East Berlin in 2004, followed by similarly transitory boutiques in Barcelona and Singapore.  Each had its own character, in keeping with its environment.   In Warsaw, 3____ shell of 4___ old Soviet-era fruit and vegetable shop remained intact, with green tiling, patchy plasterwork , and traces of ripped-out fittings on the rough walls. This aesthetic was extended into 5___display cabinites, really Soviet furniture, installed to house 6____ label's range. Cabinets clung haphazardly to 7___ walls; drawers spilled out, lopsided and half open to expose shiny perfume bottles; broken chairs cascaded from the ceiling with shoes balanced precariously on their battered seats; clothes were hung on bare metal rails; and twists of wire hung from light fittings and curled on the floor, half hidden under the stacks of fittings.

The effect was of 8___ abandoned storeroom, with clothes and accessories left behind in 9____ shopkeeper's rush to leave. This atmosphere was symbolic of its geographical and historical context, with communisim abandoned in former Soviet block countries, to be replaced by capitalism. This has led to a shift from buying what was needed, or rather what was available, to shopping for what is desired and aspired to, from a wide choice of goods. 10____ rawness of the shop [was in line with] 11____ nature of guerrilla stores, which suddenly take over 12 ___ urban space. Indeed, this was 13___ label's thrid [shop] in Warsaw, 14____ first appearing in 2005 in 15_____ deteriorated passageway under 16____ bridge.

Although they might seem unplanned, such shops are part of Comme des Garcons' strategy to remain at 17____ forefront of fashion retailing.   Some of  18_____ stores remain open for only 19___ few days, others 20____ year; none are advertised, other than through emails to existing customers, perhaps 21___ few posters in  22 ___ local area, and, crucially, through word of mouth. "

Go back and reread the passage, noting where the definite article is NOT used (e.g. in front of plural nouns). Why?

We put nouns in the plural and eliminate 'the' when we generalize, provided the reference is not to some place such as 'the post office', 'the supermarket', etc.