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As a former employee for almost 5 years, I found it to be a great place to work. It was ahead of its time, using computers and allowing consumers to see the inventory of any given store. As years go by, not many remember Service Merchandise and I count it a privilege to have worked there and to be part of a unique time in retail history.
I am 54 and I remember it distinctly. As a customer I remember going there is a teenager. In my 20s I think it was around 1999. I bought a little wooden clock there and I still have it. I loved service merchandise. I wish it was still around.
Excellent documentary. I miss Service Merchandise. I always liked how you'd wait for the product you purchased to come down the conveyer at the pick up counter. We still have an electric can opener from them.
As teenagers, my brother and I would make christmas lists out of the Service Merchandise catalogues. I used to love that. I also got a kick out of going to the store and checking out the awesome boomboxes and mini shelf systems of the early to mid 90s. That was an awesome time to be alive!
It was awesome to handle a display item (stereos were powered on) and see the little paper slips in the shelf that told how many were in stock. Grab a slip, take it to checkout, the item came down that conveyor belt, it was exciting.
This is definitely a long lost store from my youth! We had a Service Merchandise where we live when I was growing up in the 80s and 90s and my parents shopped there ALL the time! I swear, just about every single time they needed something, it was off to Service Merchandise! I remember as a little kid being so fascinated by the items coming down the conveyer belt. They are now long since gone. I believe ours closed in 1999 and then Best Buy opened in its place in 2000, which is still there to this day. I will always have such fond memories of this store!
I actually moved to Nashville in 1983 to work for Service as a Systems Analyst. I became acquainted with Raymond Zimmerman during my employment and assisted with the implementation of many new systems. In many ways, Service was a technology leader with things like Silent Sam, our merchandise replenishment systems, and our seasonal push calculations. I was involved in the move from Foster Creighton in Nashville to the Brentwood TN site. There was some controversy at the new site with a piece of sculpture that Raymond wanted to put at the headquarters, and the city eventually won the dispute. My son actually appeared in one of the catalogues.
@@matthewg4556It was made up of old appliances welded together into a piece of art. I don't recall if it was a bull or a bear or what, but I know it had to be taken down immediately at the request of the City of Brentwood.
@@matthewg4556 Brentwood was and still is a highbrow community. A lot of the country music stars and healthcare executives live there. Truth be told, they found the piece to be ‘too common’ for their standards. Raymond Zimmerman didn’t appeal to the right people. He just did it without permissions.
Wow, I worked at Service Merchandise in the early 90s, even met my son's father there (he passed away in 2021) it was probably on of my favorite jobs! I was just reminiscing about the working there, I was the PBX operator! Gosh it was such a long time ago.
There was a Service Merchandise about 20 miles from my house. My family shopped there frequently. We bought small appliances, a printing calculator, a children's bible, toys and even a Texas Instruments computer! We loved this store chain and wish it was still around.
I loved Service Merchandise. I remember when I first heard about this new technology to reheat food in a metal box we had to have it. It was a life changer. We bought our first Emerson Microwave at Service Merchandise. It last over 30 years.
Wal-Mart killed this chain off. I remember the one in Cincinnati on Colerain Avenue was always busy. My mother and/or father used to take me there dozens and dozens of times. But once Wal-Mart came along, right down the road, we and many others stopped going there. Sad too. I loved that place and it's laid back feel.
I never had been to that location. I did go to the Toys R Us in Bevis though. As for my Service Merchandise, it was Tri County adjacent to Kemper Road. Oddly enough, a Toys R Us was there too.
The store had a lot more quantity and quality than Walmart you could get quality stuff from here like a JCPenney almost jewelry all kinds of stuff I remember going in there when I was young and seeing canoes and they had a hunting section it was huge the store we had here in Michigan was huge
@@AJKPenguin Service Merchandise was already dying by the time Montgomery Ward went belly up. What ultimately did Service Merchandise in was Costo and Sam's. I went to Service Merchandise multiple times during the Early 90s when my family was stationed in Virigina. I remember seeing Super NES BRAND New there in '91, it was up on a high shelf.
Service Merchandise was one of my favorite stores to shop in because of the ordering process and seeing your order come out on a conveyor belt system. It was far more interesting to shop in and even browse in because it looked more up scale than any walmart, kmart or target and still to this day does. I remember my mom having the catalogs and looking through them and in fact on my mantle is a large musical mantle clock that came from Service Merchandise that still to this day works and I also have a little flashlight stamped from there. I miss this store, thank you for the video!
I remember shopping at Service Merchandise in the Irving Mall in Texas when I was young-ish. A very different experience from other kinds of stores. In hindsight I think it was better. The showroom was intended for the customer to browse and be considerate - not be rushed pushing a loaded cart through aisles. Seeing the products out and in a natural setting made you more skeptical about purchasing - it removed the alluring mystery of a box with marketing images printed on the outside. Writing a list down before checking out with merch also kept you more aware of how much you were considering spending. Never forget that over time, the goal of retail was to find ways to trick people into spending more with less forethought.
Haha yeah Service Merchandise did use pencils if I remember correctly, so you could change your mind easily. Plus their items were so reliable and durable. I had a curling iron that was my mom's that lasted about 25 years. Never see that quality anymore.
My Mom (RIP) truly loved shopping at this store, especially for Christmas. I even remember how she used to let us look in the catalogs with her. I think we had three locations here and one was attached to the Mall of Memphis, which closed on 12/24/03. I think I remember it being closed a little while before the mall was closed.
You are absolutely right about a location being at the Mall of Memphis and closing years before the entire mall finally closed down. It was a location in Whitehaven as well at the corner of Elvis Presley and Shelby Dr. Where the Kroger is located right now that use to be Service Merchandise way back in the day. It was another location in Hickory Hill on Winchester. Right where New Direction Christian Church is on that corner of Winchester and Ridgeway. Wow you brought back some great memories with your comment. Thank you for that. BACK DOWN MEMORY LANE!!!
@@MISSBROOKE911 you're quite welcome! I forgot about the one in Whitehaven! We mostly went to the Winchester location and TMOM. I got another oldie for you: Fred P. Gattas on Summer Ave, down the street from KMart. Memphis has lost so many unique stores! I'll forever believe that Walmart purposely played "big fish, little fish" with lots of Mom & Pop stores. We're now down to a handful of retailers.
Man I miss Service Merchandise as well as malls and showroom shopping period!...dont get me wrong I love ebay but I miss my Service Merchandise and its layaway!...RIP SE!!!...New Orleans East misses ya!
I've been to the one in Wyomissing PA as a kid probably 100+ times. I used to LOVE going there. They had EVERYTHING. From impressive swiss army knives to computers, game consoles, exercise equipment. Always tons of interesting things too look at/play with.
I worked full-time at the SMC store in Richland Mall, Waco, Texas, in the 80's and 90's. This store had the best selection of housewares and sporting goods, etc..., in town until Walmart came. The store existed here from about 1986 until around 2000. I could have never predicted how retail has developed since then.
Great video. I just discovered your channel and am enjoying it. I shopped at our Service Merchandise Showroom quite a bit in the 80s and 90s. It was opened in the mid 1970s and stayed the same until the end (which I thought was cool). They had some ancient computer terminals that you could key in the item number from the catalog and see if it was in stock at that showroom. I can still remember doing that like it was yesterday. I still have a nice Onyx and Diamond gold ring I purchased in 1988. They were a good store but like so many I guess they just didn’t keep up with the times.
Same, I like going because I just enjoyed the interior looked like. It's like you were inside a rich man's mansion. I also vaguely remember the multitude of tvs they had, all were playing the movie Species at the same time. This was located at the local mall in Mcallen Tx. Montgomery Wards brings back memories as well. That one was at a smaller mall at the other side of town. Cheers.
@@anchorpoint3631 My Stepdad got my SNES from there Brand New in Christmas 1991. I also remember Mom buying Comforter Sets and Multiple Tyco Toy sets from Service Merchandise for me and my Baby Brother. 3 Years later, I remember seeing the locations dwindle. When the Internet went Mainstream in '95, Service Merchandise felt like an old Bird Fighting to stay afloat, by then, Sams and Costo had entered the fray and MAJORITY of SM's Sales and Profit was devoured by them. It didn't surprise me that Service Merchandise followed suit after Montgomery Ward's 2001 complete Collapse and Liquidation.
I loved Service Merchandise. I shopped at one on the SE side of Chicago during the 80's mostly. You'd go into the store take an order pad/pencil and walk around writing down the item number of whatever you wanted. It was nice because you didn't have to carry anything around with you or push a cart. When finished you took your list to the cashier, paid and then waited for your items to come down from an upper floor on a conveyor belt. They had good quality merchandise. I still have items in my house that I bought there 40 years ago.
I must have caught the tail-end of Service Merchandise retail stores back in the early 90s. I vaguely remember going into the stores with my parents and poking around the sound systems with big speakers. I just happened to catch a game show tonight (Concentration) from the late 80s on tv and they mentioned SM and I thought....oh yea, what happened to them? I had no idea the Big Box stores of today (Walmart, Kmart once upon a time) were instrumental in pushing SM out of service, no pun intended. Great video, very interesting history. Seems like...and perhaps is...a lifetime ago today!
@@PostMortar My Stepdad got my SNES from there Brand New in Christmas 1991. I also remember Mom buying Comforter Sets and Multiple Tyco Toy sets from Service Merchandise for me and my Baby Brother. 3 Years later, I remember seeing the locations dwindle. When the Internet went Mainstream in '95, Service Merchandise felt like an old Bird Fighting to stay afloat, by then, Sams and Costo had entered the fray and MAJORITY of SM's Sales and Profit was devoured by them. It didn't surprise me that Service Merchandise followed suit after Montgomery Ward's 2001 complete Collapse and Liquidation. I'm 41. I have vague memories of Service Merchandise during the 80s. I recall there being a Few Locations in Northern California(back when we lived there) but my bigger memories of SM is when we lived in Virginia during the early 90s. Especially the Portsmouth Store.
The conveyer belts beckoned Childhood Me. They looked like a massive playground with a slide coming through the ceiling. I enjoyed the toy section and remember seeing _Hook_ on the TV display. PS: please do an episode, 1 for each, on Dick Smith and RadioShack.
I really love your videos! Always nice to find new channels making videos I'm genuinely interested in:) I also grew up not even five minutes from the location in the thumbnail on Long Island, so that's a fun little quirk too! def gained a new subscriber!
I loved Service Merchandise. But when online catalogs and ordering started, it was all over for retailers that didn't offer it. Walmart, Sam's Club and Amazon popped up about this time also.
My first retail job in 1985 at age 16. I worked in electronics. I asked for a longterm job but had no understanding of "Christmas help". I was shocked when they terminated me January 1 lol...
I worked at the warehouse in Dallas, huge, warehouse, two of them, management was all, 100% about favors, didn’t matter on your ability, it was just how much brown nosed a person was, I left the company after seeing way too much of it. My boss told me, he doubted it would last more than a year, I didn’t give them that long, I’ve seen new hires with no forklift experience run forks into pallets and pallets of items, it got to the point where our trash compactors were picked up 3 and 4 time a week, it was becoming a very dangerous place to work, starting pay was very good, if you knew someone who worked there, you could use there name and you was hired. They did it to themselves, old man Zimmerman came to visit once, there were changes, but it changed right back again, the warehouse in garland texas, burned down, the two new ones in Dallas were the largest ones in the city, the mayor came to cut the ribbon, it really went downhill, about a year after that….
You oughta see a backroom at a Target. My ETL (equivalent of an assistant manager) can't drive the forklift and destroys so many pallets. You just know to stay far away because one could very well fall on your head. They give about 1 hour of training to become "certified" and give you your own set of keys. I've also worked at Walmart. Definitely can't say retail has gotten any safer for the workers or less brown nosing required to get promoted. We don't even have a system for reporting workplace injuries, you tell your boss you got injured, and they just send you home for the day.
Growing up in Toms River, NJ in the 90s, we didn't have Service Merchandise, but we did have another catalog showroom store: BEST Products. They also had a conveyor belt system, but at the front of the store, and the showroom was actually aestheically closer to modern stores inside. It was so cool for 6 year old me!
I never heard of this growing up, but there was a rival store, Best, in my area. The only time we went there was to get an electric typewriter. I think I remember it rolling out of the back on a roller conveyor.
Exactly, some items you need to see in person. Plus, as a person who works in retail stores, this format doesn't allow the items to get messed up on the salesfloor. I probably could spend half my shifts straightening and cleaning. At SM, it was all in the backroom.
Awwwwwww I so miss this store at the mall 😔 I looked forward to the Christmas catalog every yr! Not to mention, it's where I got my first pink and purple 3 wheeler 😊 If only we could go back for just 1 day.
As a Long Island, NY boy, we also had Consumers Distributing, usually relegated to small shopping centers with small square footage compared to SM and not having much in merchandise on the floor but line up with your order form, wait for it to be brought to the front, pay and head for home.
I still have a bunch of stuff I got at Service Merchandise including a watch of course. They sold quality products that were built to last not the crap you get these days that's doing good to last a month.
franklin, tennessee (just south of brentwood and connected through cool springs) is my hometown. ive remembered service merchandise ever since i was a kid, but i had no idea it was based here in my hometown.
God...catalogs used to be such a big part of AMERICA. Sears would not have become the largest store back then if you couldn't open up your mail box, pick out an item, and then use your phone to have it delivered to your door or picked up in at those catalog centers with 10-15 colored phones and desk catalogs! And when the use of them started to wain, even though they had on line capabilities to order from, they failed ...while AMAZON took off with the same concept. In WISCONSIN, We had SMITH supply, and GENERAL MERCHANDISE COMPANY (which later became TREASURE ISLAND--Under the squiggly roof--& owned by PENNEYS)
SM used to be the store where you got your exercise items,toys jewelry, and entertainment systems Back in the 1980s SM had two locations at Eastwood Mall in Birmingham AL, and Hoover AL, shopped the Eastwood location several times into the 90s until the mall and the store shut down for good.
My grandaunt was Mary Zimmerman, married to Harry Zimmerman. My father met them, and he said to me that they would let him get anything from the store so he got a 60 inch TV, and a Rolex.
Those catalogs made for fun reading on the toilet. Every November or so I used to write down what I wanted for Christmas and give it to my dad for Santa to buy. We were well off so I got most of the stuff.
I never liked showroom stores because I have to go around back and some jerks eventually schlep something to the door with a big smash in it. I like the product in hand at the point of purchase. And I like to open it first if I'm 100% sure I'm buying it. What are they going to do, make me buy it?
Nothing was more exciting as a kid than seeing whatever your parents ordered sliding down the rollers. edit: everyone in the comments is saying conveyor belt but I swear I remember the noise of rollers...wonder if it's a false memory? I was pretty young, maybe like 8-10.
I used to work for them, and we saw the downfall and where they were going wrong. However, they never asked the staff. It is sad that the boots on the ground are never consulted, and those at the top that do not even work in a store make all the decisions. I loved working for them, but it was clear where they went wrong, and all the reasons are not listed in this video.
Yes it is! Whenever I can't find commercials from the chain I'm covering, I'll use related ones to fill the time. While the video was being encoded, some frames were messed up and it showed the circuit city part. Haha! Good eye though.
Loved SM as a kid. First place i went soon as are family hit the door was the Casio (and others) Keyboards and musical equipment section an then proceed to make horrible music for everyone to hear consisting of 80s keyboard demos, dogs barking jingle bells and the only part of a song I could play....somewhat😏 Lean on Me😬
The store in the first frame is Southgate Michigan I worked there when Ivanka Trump wanted to get into diamond trades. I had already met Ivanka decades earlier but service merchandise was the last time I would trust anyone ever again . The pee pee tape lol I gotcha beat
Retail has definitely changed, that's for sure -- more so consumerism -- but at one time it was more convenient than what most of their competitors had.
Now with shoplifting at an all time high across major cities. This business model would thrive. 👌 Keeping everything of value behind display cases. Requiring you to pay before to recieve. Would drastically cut down thieft. Especially the stores insurance rates.
@@PremiumFuelOnly I mean, the going to service merchandise and best, seeing something in the showroom and the having to wait 20 minutes for them to give it to you at a pickup window. That seems odd to me.
TMW you find a new series that _will_ be your new microfixation *and they haven't uploaded in over a year* 😭 Wherever y'all are I hope you're doing well.
Man did Service Merchandise SUCK. You go in store, and have NO clue what they sell. You'd have to flip through a catalog. I wanna see and touch stuff with my hand. Not ask some employee to go get it and then what if I wanted to see something else? Gets pretty annoying if you're browsing the backs of NES (Nintendo) cartridges for descriptions and images. I'd probably look at 15 or 20 games before making a decision. The place in the next town over from me was small up front. I remember it mostly boring shit that I wouldn't be interested in like jewelry and watches.
LIke the video, but what's up with the frequent deep nasal breathing sound in the background every 30 seconds or so? Quite annoying and difficult to ignore after you notice it.
I can’t hear what you mean, but it’s probably the mic picking up my breathing in a weird way. I had a different audio set up at the time, so it could’ve been anything. Thanks for watching!
This was the last video where I included a lot of unnecessary research. I thought it was important to the story, which is debatable, but a 20 minute video on Service Merchandise was unneeded. I keep it on the skinny now, and most videos are about 10 minutes.
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As a former employee for almost 5 years, I found it to be a great place to work. It was ahead of its time, using computers and allowing consumers to see the inventory of any given store.
As years go by, not many remember Service Merchandise and I count it a privilege to have worked there and to be part of a unique time in retail history.
I am 54 and I remember it distinctly. As a customer I remember going there is a teenager. In my 20s I think it was around 1999. I bought a little wooden clock there and I still have it. I loved service merchandise. I wish it was still around.
It seemed like shopping in the future and I loved thumbing thru their catalog.
Excellent documentary. I miss Service Merchandise. I always liked how you'd wait for the product you purchased to come down the conveyer at the pick up counter. We still have an electric can opener from them.
I got a stereo set from them one Christmas, and a portable battery operated shaver. ( I was 15). lol
Same here. It was exciting waiting for your item to appear.
Where else, in the 1980s, could you buy a diamond ring, a snowblower, a toaster oven, a rifle, and a camera all in one store? Service Merchandise!
Ardan jewelers and distributors had all those things. So did K’s Merchandise. At least you could if you lived near Rockford Illinois.
You can still do that at a pawn shop.
Literally most stores have all that stuff today, or like the other dude said go to a pawn shop
As teenagers, my brother and I would make christmas lists out of the Service Merchandise catalogues. I used to love that. I also got a kick out of going to the store and checking out the awesome boomboxes and mini shelf systems of the early to mid 90s. That was an awesome time to be alive!
It was awesome to handle a display item (stereos were powered on) and see the little paper slips in the shelf that told how many were in stock. Grab a slip, take it to checkout, the item came down that conveyor belt, it was exciting.
The Christmas lists out of the catalogs! I miss it.
This is definitely a long lost store from my youth! We had a Service Merchandise where we live when I was growing up in the 80s and 90s and my parents shopped there ALL the time! I swear, just about every single time they needed something, it was off to Service Merchandise! I remember as a little kid being so fascinated by the items coming down the conveyer belt. They are now long since gone. I believe ours closed in 1999 and then Best Buy opened in its place in 2000, which is still there to this day. I will always have such fond memories of this store!
OMG! I worked at Service Merchandise right after Mcdonald's and thought I was moving up in the world, lol. Memories of my teen years, sigh!
I actually moved to Nashville in 1983 to work for Service as a Systems Analyst. I became acquainted with Raymond Zimmerman during my employment and assisted with the implementation of many new systems. In many ways, Service was a technology leader with things like Silent Sam, our merchandise replenishment systems, and our seasonal push calculations. I was involved in the move from Foster Creighton in Nashville to the Brentwood TN site. There was some controversy at the new site with a piece of sculpture that Raymond wanted to put at the headquarters, and the city eventually won the dispute. My son actually appeared in one of the catalogues.
Come on man. Tell me about the sculpture!
@@matthewg4556It was made up of old appliances welded together into a piece of art. I don't recall if it was a bull or a bear or what, but I know it had to be taken down immediately at the request of the City of Brentwood.
@@Kreb99 it sounds pretty neat, wasn't really that bad that it had to come down?
@@matthewg4556 Brentwood was and still is a highbrow community. A lot of the country music stars and healthcare executives live there. Truth be told, they found the piece to be ‘too common’ for their standards. Raymond Zimmerman didn’t appeal to the right people. He just did it without permissions.
Wow, I worked at Service Merchandise in the early 90s, even met my son's father there (he passed away in 2021) it was probably on of my favorite jobs! I was just reminiscing about the working there, I was the PBX operator! Gosh it was such a long time ago.
That's awesome! And my deepest condolences.
There was a Service Merchandise about 20 miles from my house. My family shopped there frequently. We bought small appliances, a printing calculator, a children's bible, toys and even a Texas Instruments computer! We loved this store chain and wish it was still around.
I loved Service Merchandise. I remember when I first heard about this new technology to reheat food in a metal box we had to have it. It was a life changer. We bought our first Emerson Microwave at Service Merchandise. It last over 30 years.
Wal-Mart killed this chain off. I remember the one in Cincinnati on Colerain Avenue was always busy. My mother and/or father used to take me there dozens and dozens of times. But once Wal-Mart came along, right down the road, we and many others stopped going there. Sad too. I loved that place and it's laid back feel.
I never had been to that location. I did go to the Toys R Us in Bevis though.
As for my Service Merchandise, it was Tri County adjacent to Kemper Road. Oddly enough, a Toys R Us was there too.
do you remember Steinbergs? trying to remember where they were. Loveland?
The store had a lot more quantity and quality than Walmart you could get quality stuff from here like a JCPenney almost jewelry all kinds of stuff I remember going in there when I was young and seeing canoes and they had a hunting section it was huge the store we had here in Michigan was huge
@@AJKPenguin Service Merchandise was already dying by the time Montgomery Ward went belly up. What ultimately did Service Merchandise in was Costo and Sam's. I went to Service Merchandise multiple times during the Early 90s when my family was stationed in Virigina. I remember seeing Super NES BRAND New there in '91, it was up on a high shelf.
Great video. Thanks! As a teenager, Service Merchandise was the place for everything I was looking for. Loved that catalog.
Service Merchandise was one of my favorite stores to shop in because of the ordering process and seeing your order come out on a conveyor belt system. It was far more interesting to shop in and even browse in because it looked more up scale than any walmart, kmart or target and still to this day does. I remember my mom having the catalogs and looking through them and in fact on my mantle is a large musical mantle clock that came from Service Merchandise that still to this day works and I also have a little flashlight stamped from there. I miss this store, thank you for the video!
Agreed! Very cool store. Thanks for watching!
I remember shopping at Service Merchandise in the Irving Mall in Texas when I was young-ish. A very different experience from other kinds of stores. In hindsight I think it was better. The showroom was intended for the customer to browse and be considerate - not be rushed pushing a loaded cart through aisles. Seeing the products out and in a natural setting made you more skeptical about purchasing - it removed the alluring mystery of a box with marketing images printed on the outside.
Writing a list down before checking out with merch also kept you more aware of how much you were considering spending. Never forget that over time, the goal of retail was to find ways to trick people into spending more with less forethought.
Haha yeah Service Merchandise did use pencils if I remember correctly, so you could change your mind easily. Plus their items were so reliable and durable. I had a curling iron that was my mom's that lasted about 25 years. Never see that quality anymore.
My Mom (RIP) truly loved shopping at this store, especially for Christmas. I even remember how she used to let us look in the catalogs with her. I think we had three locations here and one was attached to the Mall of Memphis, which closed on 12/24/03. I think I remember it being closed a little while before the mall was closed.
You are absolutely right about a location being at the Mall of Memphis and closing years before the entire mall finally closed down. It was a location in Whitehaven as well at the corner of Elvis Presley and Shelby Dr. Where the Kroger is located right now that use to be Service Merchandise way back in the day. It was another location in Hickory Hill on Winchester. Right where New Direction Christian Church is on that corner of Winchester and Ridgeway. Wow you brought back some great memories with your comment. Thank you for that. BACK DOWN MEMORY LANE!!!
@@MISSBROOKE911 you're quite welcome! I forgot about the one in Whitehaven! We mostly went to the Winchester location and TMOM.
I got another oldie for you: Fred P. Gattas on Summer Ave, down the street from KMart.
Memphis has lost so many unique stores! I'll forever believe that Walmart purposely played "big fish, little fish" with lots of Mom & Pop stores.
We're now down to a handful of retailers.
So glad to see a video on service merchandise to conveyor belt was the best part of going there.
My wedding rings are from Service Merchandise, Later traded them up for larger carat size. Received full credit on the original set.
K’s Merchandise was another catalog showroom that we shopped. We still have a kitchen cabinet that we bought from them.
Our local one was in East Meadow, NY, Clearmeadow Mall. Got my Swiss Army knife there when I was 15 in the mid-90's! Now it's a Wal-Mart.
Man I miss Service Merchandise as well as malls and showroom shopping period!...dont get me wrong I love ebay but I miss my Service Merchandise and its layaway!...RIP SE!!!...New Orleans East misses ya!
I've been to the one in Wyomissing PA as a kid probably 100+ times. I used to LOVE going there. They had EVERYTHING. From impressive swiss army knives to computers, game consoles, exercise equipment. Always tons of interesting things too look at/play with.
I liked Service Merchandise. We had one in our local mall and I got my Walkmans there when I was a teenager.
my mom loved this store we had one in the Jefferson valley mall in NY that closed in 1999
I was in that store!!
Your documentaries are so well made. I’ve been binge watching them all day. Can’t wait to see your next video.
I worked full-time at the SMC store in Richland Mall, Waco, Texas, in the 80's and 90's. This store had the best selection of housewares and sporting goods, etc..., in town until Walmart came. The store existed here from about 1986 until around 2000. I could have never predicted how retail has developed since then.
This video was way better than I was ever expecting to find on Service Merchandise.
Great video. I just discovered your channel and am enjoying it. I shopped at our Service Merchandise Showroom quite a bit in the 80s and 90s. It was opened in the mid 1970s and stayed the same until the end (which I thought was cool). They had some ancient computer terminals that you could key in the item number from the catalog and see if it was in stock at that showroom. I can still remember doing that like it was yesterday. I still have a nice Onyx and Diamond gold ring I purchased in 1988. They were a good store but like so many I guess they just didn’t keep up with the times.
I loved this store when I was a kid in the late 80s and early 90s.
Same, I like going because I just enjoyed the interior looked like. It's like you were inside a rich man's mansion. I also vaguely remember the multitude of tvs they had, all were playing the movie Species at the same time. This was located at the local mall in Mcallen Tx. Montgomery Wards brings back memories as well. That one was at a smaller mall at the other side of town. Cheers.
@@anchorpoint3631 My Stepdad got my SNES from there Brand New in Christmas 1991. I also remember Mom buying Comforter Sets and Multiple Tyco Toy sets from Service Merchandise for me and my Baby Brother. 3 Years later, I remember seeing the locations dwindle. When the Internet went Mainstream in '95, Service Merchandise felt like an old Bird Fighting to stay afloat, by then, Sams and Costo had entered the fray and MAJORITY of SM's Sales and Profit was devoured by them. It didn't surprise me that Service Merchandise followed suit after Montgomery Ward's 2001 complete Collapse and Liquidation.
I loved Service Merchandise. I shopped at one on the SE side of Chicago during the 80's mostly. You'd go into the store take an order pad/pencil and walk around writing down the item number of whatever you wanted. It was nice because you didn't have to carry anything around with you or push a cart. When finished you took your list to the cashier, paid and then waited for your items to come down from an upper floor on a conveyor belt. They had good quality merchandise. I still have items in my house that I bought there 40 years ago.
I recall Mom buying Hitachi Stereo Set from them back during '85 in Philly.
Thank you for this video. It took me back to a childhood memory and then some
I must have caught the tail-end of Service Merchandise retail stores back in the early 90s. I vaguely remember going into the stores with my parents and poking around the sound systems with big speakers. I just happened to catch a game show tonight (Concentration) from the late 80s on tv and they mentioned SM and I thought....oh yea, what happened to them? I had no idea the Big Box stores of today (Walmart, Kmart once upon a time) were instrumental in pushing SM out of service, no pun intended. Great video, very interesting history. Seems like...and perhaps is...a lifetime ago today!
Yeah, you must’ve come in right at the end of many different chains. They just couldn’t compete.
Time really moves fast.
@@PostMortar My Stepdad got my SNES from there Brand New in Christmas 1991. I also remember Mom buying Comforter Sets and Multiple Tyco Toy sets from Service Merchandise for me and my Baby Brother. 3 Years later, I remember seeing the locations dwindle. When the Internet went Mainstream in '95, Service Merchandise felt like an old Bird Fighting to stay afloat, by then, Sams and Costo had entered the fray and MAJORITY of SM's Sales and Profit was devoured by them. It didn't surprise me that Service Merchandise followed suit after Montgomery Ward's 2001 complete Collapse and Liquidation.
I'm 41. I have vague memories of Service Merchandise during the 80s. I recall there being a Few Locations in Northern California(back when we lived there) but my bigger memories of SM is when we lived in Virginia during the early 90s. Especially the Portsmouth Store.
Very well done...
I remember buying 100 round boxes of .22 caliber bullets for seventy nine cents....
Glad to see a new Post Mortar! I've watched them all and you do a great job with these.
Thanks so much!!
The conveyer belts beckoned Childhood Me. They looked like a massive playground with a slide coming through the ceiling.
I enjoyed the toy section and remember seeing _Hook_ on the TV display.
PS: please do an episode, 1 for each, on Dick Smith and RadioShack.
Damn Walmart, Target and Kmart are like the thanos for these businesses
Lol it’s so true
I really love your videos! Always nice to find new channels making videos I'm genuinely interested in:) I also grew up not even five minutes from the location in the thumbnail on Long Island, so that's a fun little quirk too! def gained a new subscriber!
I loved Service Merchandise. But when online catalogs and ordering started, it was all over for retailers that didn't offer it. Walmart, Sam's Club and Amazon popped up about this time also.
My first retail job in 1985 at age 16. I worked in electronics. I asked for a longterm job but had no understanding of "Christmas help". I was shocked when they terminated me January 1 lol...
I worked at the warehouse in Dallas, huge, warehouse, two of them, management was all, 100% about favors, didn’t matter on your ability, it was just how much brown nosed a person was, I left the company after seeing way too much of it. My boss told me, he doubted it would last more than a year, I didn’t give them that long, I’ve seen new hires with no forklift experience run forks into pallets and pallets of items, it got to the point where our trash compactors were picked up 3 and 4 time a week, it was becoming a very dangerous place to work, starting pay was very good, if you knew someone who worked there, you could use there name and you was hired. They did it to themselves, old man Zimmerman came to visit once, there were changes, but it changed right back again, the warehouse in garland texas, burned down, the two new ones in Dallas were the largest ones in the city, the mayor came to cut the ribbon, it really went downhill, about a year after that….
You oughta see a backroom at a Target. My ETL (equivalent of an assistant manager) can't drive the forklift and destroys so many pallets. You just know to stay far away because one could very well fall on your head. They give about 1 hour of training to become "certified" and give you your own set of keys. I've also worked at Walmart. Definitely can't say retail has gotten any safer for the workers or less brown nosing required to get promoted. We don't even have a system for reporting workplace injuries, you tell your boss you got injured, and they just send you home for the day.
Awesome video! I use to shop at the one in Macon, GA. It was demolished in 2003 for an Academy Sports.
Their catalog was the jump! This was a very very cool store! Peace!
My mom worked at the Miami location. I remember running around the store while she worked.
Growing up in Toms River, NJ in the 90s, we didn't have Service Merchandise, but we did have another catalog showroom store: BEST Products. They also had a conveyor belt system, but at the front of the store, and the showroom was actually aestheically closer to modern stores inside. It was so cool for 6 year old me!
I never heard of this growing up, but there was a rival store, Best, in my area. The only time we went there was to get an electric typewriter. I think I remember it rolling out of the back on a roller conveyor.
Very informative. This is one store I never shopped at, instead my family shopped at their competitor Best. Will you be covering Best Products?
That might be a future episode, but Bright Sun Films did a great video on it: m.th-cam.com/video/cYS9fXhpQd8/w-d-xo.html
This could certainly work in the online days of today
Exactly, some items you need to see in person. Plus, as a person who works in retail stores, this format doesn't allow the items to get messed up on the salesfloor. I probably could spend half my shifts straightening and cleaning. At SM, it was all in the backroom.
Awwwwwww I so miss this store at the mall 😔 I looked forward to the Christmas catalog every yr! Not to mention, it's where I got my first pink and purple 3 wheeler 😊 If only we could go back for just 1 day.
I still have my Crosman air rifle I bought from the Service Merchandise in Kingsport TN. I bought it in 1986.
As a Long Island, NY boy, we also had Consumers Distributing, usually relegated to small shopping centers with small square footage compared to SM and not having much in merchandise on the floor but line up with your order form, wait for it to be brought to the front, pay and head for home.
I still have a bunch of stuff I got at Service Merchandise including a watch of course. They sold quality products that were built to last not the crap you get these days that's doing good to last a month.
franklin, tennessee (just south of brentwood and connected through cool springs) is my hometown. ive remembered service merchandise ever since i was a kid, but i had no idea it was based here in my hometown.
As a Memphian i definitely remember service merchandise in the 90s as a child ... Very empty in those last days too
As always... really great job. So interesting!
Thanks, Matt!! That means a lot to me! Glad you liked it!
God...catalogs used to be such a big part of AMERICA. Sears would not have become the largest store back then if you couldn't open up your mail box, pick out an item, and then use your phone to have it delivered to your door or picked up in at those catalog centers with 10-15 colored phones and desk catalogs! And when the use of them started to wain, even though they had on line capabilities to order from, they failed ...while AMAZON took off with the same concept. In WISCONSIN, We had SMITH supply, and GENERAL MERCHANDISE COMPANY (which later became TREASURE ISLAND--Under the squiggly roof--& owned by PENNEYS)
SM used to be the store where you got your exercise items,toys jewelry, and entertainment systems
Back in the 1980s SM had two locations at Eastwood Mall in Birmingham AL, and Hoover AL, shopped the Eastwood location several times into the 90s until the mall and the store shut down for good.
Service, Best, and Wilson's...all long gone.
Well done. Similar style to Company Man. You earned this sub. Looking forward to more.
Great content and videos on retail that’s since long gone or still here reorganized into a better company keep it up bro 😊😊
You missed the fact that Service Merchandise was a prominent sponsor of game shows such as Wheel of Fortune.
I came real close to mentioning that, but the video is already far too long LOL
They had the best catalog hands down for electronics and kids toys. JCPenny was nothing but clothes.
I worked at Service Merchandise in Cicero NY and Fayetteville NY from 1981-1986
I remember getting an 80’s swatch watch here, as well as a kids telescope, a Sony Walkman and a few Nintendo games.
My grandaunt was Mary Zimmerman, married to Harry Zimmerman. My father met them, and he said to me that they would let him get anything from the store so he got a 60 inch TV, and a Rolex.
That's pretty awesome!
@@PostMortar Unfortunately Service Merchandise never sold 60" TVs or the Rolex brand.
Unfortunately Service Merchandise never sold 60" TVs or the Rolex brand.
Service Merchandise cashier was a summer job for me as 16 year old. It wasn't a bad place to work.
I used to get so excited seeing the item I purchased coming down the conveyor to me after I paid at checkout.
The ultimate presentation!
Real Talk... Service Merchandise was Amazon before the Internet. My old neighborhood store was bought by a Lexus dealership.
Growing up we had one in queens me and my friends would window shop...our parents were poor so we never bought anything from there 😂
Fond memories shopping here. My mother bought me my first electric razor at a Service Merchandise.
WoW! Havent heard that name in a long time. If you have Lionel Play World I could be a kid again.
Expect it in the future!
Those catalogs made for fun reading on the toilet. Every November or so I used to write down what I wanted for Christmas and give it to my dad for Santa to buy. We were well off so I got most of the stuff.
Crazy how a store catalog can make such great memories. That’s great. Thanks for sharing.
Damn, I miss this store
When the apex of Service Merchandise's existence is when they gave away gift certificates on "Wheel of Fortune".
I never liked showroom stores because I have to go around back and some jerks eventually schlep something to the door with a big smash in it. I like the product in hand at the point of purchase. And I like to open it first if I'm 100% sure I'm buying it. What are they going to do, make me buy it?
Nothing was more exciting as a kid than seeing whatever your parents ordered sliding down the rollers.
edit: everyone in the comments is saying conveyor belt but I swear I remember the noise of rollers...wonder if it's a false memory? I was pretty young, maybe like 8-10.
I’m sure some locations had rolling belts. Sounds about right.
Another one that lasted in Arlington heights Illinois into the 90s that I remember
I used to go to the location in the Largo Mall in Pinellas County, Florida. Anyone know what year it closed?
Half of the footage in this video is from a Circuit City ad. I miss that place. Always had higher end merch than Best Buy.
Ardans was another catalog showroom. Can you video them?
I loved going there as a kid. I still have Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figures from there :)
Service Merchandise actually supplied prizes for the game shows The Price is Right and Shop til You Drop
I used to work for them, and we saw the downfall and where they were going wrong. However, they never asked the staff. It is sad that the boots on the ground are never consulted, and those at the top that do not even work in a store make all the decisions. I loved working for them, but it was clear where they went wrong, and all the reasons are not listed in this video.
6:31 isn't that a circuit city commercial?
Yes it is! Whenever I can't find commercials from the chain I'm covering, I'll use related ones to fill the time. While the video was being encoded, some frames were messed up and it showed the circuit city part. Haha! Good eye though.
Love the background music. What is it?
It’s “Intractible” by Kevin MacLeod. Definitely a classic.
That showroom at 5:55 looks like an former Topps
Very good eye. Yes, that was a former Topps.
So many bad decisions by so many shit executives. There is always shit executives behind these downfalls.
Loved SM as a kid. First place i went soon as are family hit the door was the Casio (and others) Keyboards and musical equipment section an then proceed to make horrible music for everyone to hear consisting of 80s keyboard demos, dogs barking jingle bells and the only part of a song I could play....somewhat😏 Lean on Me😬
The store in the first frame is Southgate Michigan I worked there when Ivanka Trump wanted to get into diamond trades. I had already met Ivanka decades earlier but service merchandise was the last time I would trust anyone ever again . The pee pee tape lol I gotcha beat
Ironic that this retail model might be looking good again thanks to the rampant shoplifting of late.
True. Easier option would be to either minimize or eliminate self-checkout.
87th and Cicero
I will never understand the success back in the day of these catalog showrooms.
Retail has definitely changed, that's for sure -- more so consumerism -- but at one time it was more convenient than what most of their competitors had.
There was no internet back then.
Whats hard to understand? Its basically what Amazon was before the internet.
Now with shoplifting at an all time high across major cities. This business model would thrive. 👌
Keeping everything of value behind display cases. Requiring you to pay before to recieve. Would drastically cut down thieft. Especially the stores insurance rates.
@@PremiumFuelOnly I mean, the going to service merchandise and best, seeing something in the showroom and the having to wait 20 minutes for them to give it to you at a pickup window. That seems odd to me.
TMW you find a new series that _will_ be your new microfixation
*and they haven't uploaded in over a year* 😭
Wherever y'all are I hope you're doing well.
Haha! Glad to hear you like it! I’m well. New video is coming very soon.
The dislikes are from the former employees who got fired 😂.
im the homosexual boy on the left with my sister at the 1 second mark omgggg
Man did Service Merchandise SUCK. You go in store, and have NO clue what they sell. You'd have to flip through a catalog. I wanna see and touch stuff with my hand. Not ask some employee to go get it and then what if I wanted to see something else? Gets pretty annoying if you're browsing the backs of NES (Nintendo) cartridges for descriptions and images. I'd probably look at 15 or 20 games before making a decision.
The place in the next town over from me was small up front. I remember it mostly boring shit that I wouldn't be interested in like jewelry and watches.
It was certainly a strange format.
LIke the video, but what's up with the frequent deep nasal breathing sound in the background every 30 seconds or so? Quite annoying and difficult to ignore after you notice it.
I can’t hear what you mean, but it’s probably the mic picking up my breathing in a weird way. I had a different audio set up at the time, so it could’ve been anything.
Thanks for watching!
Could’ve been 10 minutes shorter
This was the last video where I included a lot of unnecessary research. I thought it was important to the story, which is debatable, but a 20 minute video on Service Merchandise was unneeded. I keep it on the skinny now, and most videos are about 10 minutes.