Service Merchandise

[DodgerGirl]

Does anyone remember shopping at Service Merchandise? They were a store similar to Best and sold everything from electronics toys camping gear sporting goods and anything else you could name and you selected an item looked it up in their special computer service named Silent Sam "Kind of sounds like a name for a Marvel superhero" and then you got to pick up your item and they also had catalogues too where you could do the same thing. Mom and I used to LOVE Service Merchandise because it was an awesome store and when I was a kid most of my dolls came from Service Merchandise and my family also bought our first Sega Genesis there too and camping gear for our vacations. Why Service Merchandise went broke I cannot figure out because the format of the stores was so neat and they were also famous for their jewelry too

 

[rangerxenos]

Does anyone remember shopping at Service Merchandise? They were a store similar to Best and sold everything from electronics toys camping gear sporting goods and anything else you could name and you selected an item looked it up in their special computer service named Silent Sam "Kind of sounds like a name for a Marvel superhero" and then you got to pick up your item and they also had catalogues too where you could do the same thing. Mom and I used to LOVE Service Merchandise because it was an awesome store and when I was a kid most of my dolls came from Service Merchandise and my family also bought our first Sega Genesis there too and camping gear for our vacations. Why Service Merchandise went broke I cannot figure out because the format of the stores was so neat and they were also famous for their jewelry too

 

[dizneegirl]

Pretty sure that's where our wedding bands came from.

 

[slo]

One of my bridal registries was at Service Merchandise. Another one was at Marshal Fields which is also a store of the past.

My greatest Service Merchandise memories……
The store was set up that when you walked in, you were where all the crystal and breakable things were displayed. Every time my grandma and I would get to the door she would say, “Hands in your pockets” because she wanted me touching nothing (this was when I was a kid)

I chuckle at this memory. When my girls were little and we were somewhere that had breakable things I would tell them the say thing - LOL!

 

[leebee]

Service Merchandise was "big" in my area in the 70s and 80s. I remember going there with my roommate when he went to pick up the engagement ring he was giving his girlfriend (also a roomie and good friend) later that week. I saw the ring before she did! That was the hardest secret to keep!

 

[lynxstch]

Pretty sure that's where our wedding bands came from.

That's where our wedding bands came from also, at least the first set of them.

 

[kdonnel]

Seems like it might not be long before a store similar opens.

One where there is one of everything sold on the shelf so you can touch it or try it on and then you place your order and it gets delivered to your home in the next 2 days.

 

[GGOOFY1]

My sister used to work in their jewelry department! I think all our wedding bands came from there!

 

[Dug720]

I don't remember a computer, but I know my Christmas List always came from their catalog!

 

[barkley]

I remember it. there was one a couple towns away from us. closer to us but of an almost identical model was 'consumer distributing'. they had catelogs twice a year (some seasonal) you selected from.

 

[Simba's Mom]

My sister used to work in their jewelry department! I think all our wedding bands came from there!

Not mine-it came from Prime Value Mart. That was a Service Merchandise wanna-be store. It was the exact same format, but the store was a little less fancy, dimmer lighting, wooden floors (I think). I don't know how many Prime Value Mart stores there were, but I think Service Merchandise was all over the country-and we shopped there a lot. As I remember, at least where we shopped, there was just one display of the item, you took a paper tag over to the counter, paid, then waited for your item to come down on the moving belt from upstairs.