I have very vivid memories about Service Merchandise, a now-defunct business with a unique ordering process focused on catalog inventory. For a kid, that kind of business model was the ultimate surprise and delight experience because it was so highly interactive.
Don’t remember it? Here’s how it worked.
A Little Bit of History
Service Merchandise was a bit more fun than today’s similar IKEA shopping experience because it carried more than mediocre DIY housewares and furniture. (No shade, IKEA is the bedrock of everyone’s twentysomething apartments and beyond.) They offered a breadth of inventory that included fine jewelry, toys, sporting goods and electronics.
