Anyone remember catalog stores?

[wenrob]

My first vacuum cleaner was from Service Merchandise. Thirty five bucks and I had to put it on layaway. My first piece of jewelery from my hubby was from there, a moon with a woman's face in tri color gold, still have it. Remember those tiered gemstone cocktail rings? Bought my mom one there. Bought all sorts of stuff from there come to think of it. They had displays and I remember walking around with my pen and little notebook to write the numbers down.

 

[bcla]

I also remember selling the Pioneer Laser Disc. Basically a DVD much earlier. A movie was the size of an LP and cost over $100 each. I don't remember how much the player was.

I bought a couple of LaserDisc players over the years starting in the late 80s, although the system itself had been available since the late 70s. It wasn't digital like DVD. I might be getting a bit technical, but the recording was completely analog. They basically recorded an FM carrier wave with different frequencies that stored the video, audio, and other stuff. Eventually they reallocated the frequencies for different purposes, but it might properly play on older equipment. Part of the frequency spectrum was reallocated for digital audio, which was encoded as an RF signal. Some of the esoteric titles I bought only used the analog tracks for running commentary. When Dolby AC-3 became available, it was encoded in one of the analog track sections. I remember listening to it in my older equipment, and it sounded like white noise.

There was also CD-Video, which was really a LaserDisc in a 5-inch size. One might have enough capacity for a music video.

I also had a few discs with "laser rot", where the glue would come apart and it would start showing video noise and audio dropouts, along with possible skipping. I'd bought some expensive titles and tried returning them. One was never acknowledged, and probably a loss of the $60 I paid for a Criterion Collection copy (they used to run daily internet specials). Another that I actually got back was for Beauty and the Beast: Work in Progress. That was CAV (meant only 30 minutes per side) and cost $100. I remember returning it to the distributor - Image Entertainment - and I actually got a new copy. I'd actually stored it near the window when it rained and the jacket was ruined. When the LD was returned they actually shipped a complete retail copy (with jacket) pressed in a different factory without the same laser rot issues. They distributed all Disney Home Video releases on LD.

 

[bcla]

A movie was the size of an LP and cost over $100 each. I don't remember how much the player was.

Eventually the titles could be cheaper. I remember that most of my movies cost $30-40 in the mid 90s.

 

[ronandannette]

Good memories. My original engagement ring (sadly now damaged beyond repair) came from Consumers Distributing. It was a gorgeous heart-shaped pink tourmaline in a diamond-studded setting.

As for the modern day, apparently unlike in the US, Sears in Canada is predominantly a catalogue business (now supplemented by on-line ordering). They do have store fronts but sell more volume through the catalogue. It's just about time for the annual Christmas "Wishbook" to come out. I couldn't hope to guess how many hours I spent as a child pouring over that thing!

 

[Jaya]

Oh the joy in the 1950's when the Pennys, Sears and Monkey Wards catalogs came, especially the Christmas ones. Hours and hours spent spending pretend money on things you just.had.to.have. Then we could cut the figures out and make paper dolls out of them.

There was another excellent use for those catalogs. I can remember as a small child going to my great-grandparents' farm. In the outhouse, there was a Sears catalog hanging on a string. I assumed it was for reading material. It wasn't. You didn't want to use the shiny pages, though.

 

[DaretoDis]

Anyone ever deal with S&H Green Stamps, Frontier, and Gold Bond stamps and shopping at their redemption centers?

 

[bcla]

Oh the joy in the 1950's when the Pennys, Sears and Monkey Wards catalogs came, especially the Christmas ones. Hours and hours spent spending pretend money on things you just.had.to.have. Then we could cut the figures out and make paper dolls out of them.

There was another excellent use for those catalogs. I can remember as a small child going to my great-grandparents' farm. In the outhouse, there was a Sears catalog hanging on a string. I assumed it was for reading material. It wasn't. You didn't want to use the shiny pages, though.

I was specifically thinking of a type of catalog store that didn't do mail order, but I guess I did mention Sears and JC Penney as a sidenote.

I loved Consumers Distributing around Christmas time. The place was packed and often you'd have to wait for an available spot to work on your order form. It was actually a Canadian company, although it bought out several American catalog store chains including one called Consumers (sounds strange I know). The following doesn't seem to work, but looks like it's supposed to be about their jewelry sales:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1arz64_consumers-distributing-jewelry-1984_shortfilms

I found photos of the catalog pages. Here's an example:

In this one all the items can be ordered, including the stands.

 

[clori]

The only ones I recall is Service Merchandise and Montgomery Wards. I also remember something like S&H Green Stamps. I remember seeing a small form to apply for a college scholarship in Service Merchandise one day in my senior year of high school. It had questions like would you be majoring in Business (nope). I was very surprised to get a $1500 college scholarship from Service Merchandise at my senior awards night.

 

[tcufrog]

I remember drooling over the giant Service Merchandise catalog at Christmas. I'd circle the items I wanted but I never got them.

 

[tennisfan]

We still have a catalogue store in the UK it's called Argos we used to have another one too but they folded several yrs ago

 

[sasywtch]

I was a vault manager at Consumer's Distributing from 79-81. I opened 2 stores in Sacramento and was going to open the Sparks, NV store when I left for the state. When I worked for them, they were owned by the May Company. They were brutal. They would hire 50 people thinking it was permanent but a week before opening the store, the district manager would take them out one by one and let them go until there were about 10 (they'd bring a few from an established store to work after it opened). It wouldn't have been bad if they told them straight up, but they led them to believe it was a permanent job.

Most items in the store except mine (vault items-jewelry, cameras, watches) were Made in China items. They did things that would never be allowed today. They have schemes we had to follow where the items were placed. It never failed, they put the tvs and all heavy stuff 5 shelves up on top???? I can't tell you how many times I had to straddle a row and hand down a tv. We had no ladders. I had a whole house full of their items.

Talking about S&H stamps, my mom collected blue chip stamps from the store and bowling. That's how I got my crib that lasted through all 4 of my kids. I can still remember licking those things into the books.

 

[Micca]

I bought a little three piece Sony powered speaker system from Service Merchandise in the late 80s-early 90s. At the time I think I planned to plug my walkman into it. All these years later it works great as the sound system for my desktop computer. Who knew???

 

[mamamary]

I worked p/t in a Consumers in New York for a few months while I was in high school. The store was very popular at that time (1980s).

 

[Squirlz]

I worked at one called ESCO in Columbus OH when I was 19. I was one of the guys in the back running around filling orders. It was all college kids and there was lots of partying and "fraternization". Many good stories from that place!

This was in the tony section od town called Upper Arlington and we had lots of interesting customers. Like the lady who would buy the cheap put-metal junk, remove the Made In Wherever labels from the bottom and sell them in her antique shop.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Good memories. My original engagement ring (sadly now damaged beyond repair) came from Consumers Distributing. It was a gorgeous heart-shaped pink tourmaline in a diamond-studded setting.

As for the modern day, apparently unlike in the US, Sears in Canada is predominantly a catalogue business (now supplemented by on-line ordering). They do have store fronts but sell more volume through the catalogue. It's just about time for the annual Christmas "Wishbook" to come out. I couldn't hope to guess how many hours I spent as a child pouring over that thing!

Yup the Wishbook and the Eaton's catalogue. I can remember drooling over the dolls and Barbie pages.

And for sure I remember Consumers!

 

[bcla]

Most items in the store except mine (vault items-jewelry, cameras, watches) were Made in China items.

I'm guessing probably not at that time. Trade with China around then was limited to maybe a few things like food. More likely made in Taiwan or Korea if they were lower end.

Most of the stuff I was drooling over in the catalog were well-known brand names or at least fairly nice items. The microscope I mentioned was made in Japan, although even then they were getting out of their reputation for shoddy manufacturing.

 

[lovesmurfs]

Mostly I remember Arthur's Catalog Showroom (central Jersey). Similar to Service Merchandise (don't think I had one until I went to Indiana for college), but smaller.

It was neat, but not a place to go window shopping -- you'd go for something specific.

 

[cybrkitn]

Anyone ever deal with S&H Green Stamps, Frontier, and Gold Bond stamps and shopping at their redemption centers?

My parents did. They used those stamps for a few items in the first few years of their marriage before I came along.

 

[CinderElsa]

I remember going to Service Merchandise when I was very small... maybe preschool? I would play Super Nintendo with my dad while my mom shopped around. We had one at home so I have no idea why I loved playing the one in the store so much...

Then we moved overseas & when we came back, it was gone.

 

[scrapquitler]

Didn't Wheel of Fortune pay out it's prizes in the form of Service Merchandise Products and gift cards when it first was on the air? I remember a set filled with items and prices on them, and the winner had to 'spend' their prize money on items from the display or take the gift cards for the balance. That was Service Merchandise? Right?