I frequently drive past a retail site from my childhood that was once a store called “Service Merchandise”. It had an odd concept where every item was on display and you pulled a tag (like how you bought a video game at Toys R Us back in the 1980s and 1990s). You would take this tag to the register, pay, and then go stand at a conveyer belt where your items came out (like getting luggage at the airport if memory serves). What was the perceived benefit of organizing a store this way? Were there other “catalog stores” (a term my mother uses to refer to Service Merchandise when I ask about it) or was this unique to Service Merchandise?
In: 24
Think of department stores. They have regional warehouses and separate retail stores. They need dedicated transportation. There is staff needed to stock, arrange shipments, transport, load and unload, stock again at the retail store, keep the store stocked and organized, etc.
Service Merchandise eliminated most of that. Their retail outlet was at the warehouse.
Remember, at this time the only way to purchase goods was either in person, or using a catalog and calling in or mailing in your order.
Latest Answers