who remembers the department store/catalog showroom store Best?
I had an aunt/uncle who lived in metro DC. On one of our visits up there we all piled in his Plymouth wagon and went to Best. It was a pretty big novelty to me (I always liked visiting a new-to-me department store). What I mostly remember was looking at this remote control toy boat and my father asked, "if you could have any toy in this whole store, what would it be?" Now, the boat actually wasn't at the top of my list but I took the hint (I figured Dad would probably want to play with it himself!) and I went home with the boat.
I recall from previous research that they were famous for outlandish architecture but the one we visited was just a big brick box.
i have a forum on it
Quote from: shore72 on October 23, 2018, 08:54:35 PM
I had an aunt/uncle who lived in metro DC. On one of our visits up there we all piled in his Plymouth wagon and went to Best. It was a pretty big novelty to me (I always liked visiting a new-to-me department store). What I mostly remember was looking at this remote control toy boat and my father asked, "if you could have any toy in this whole store, what would it be?" Now, the boat actually wasn't at the top of my list but I took the hint (I figured Dad would probably want to play with it himself!) and I went home with the boat.
I recall from previous research that they were famous for outlandish architecture but the one we visited was just a big brick box.
Some BEST stores were built as works of art until at least 1984, while most stores had a plain exterior until they went bankrupt in 1997.
The BEST store in Green Bay, Wisconsin (located next door to Toys "R" Us) had a plain prick exterior when it opened in 1984. When BEST left Wisconsin in 1985, the building sat vacant for a few years until Best Buy opened inside it in the late 1980s. In 2004, Best Buy moved out, leaving the space vacant until a Goodwill thrift store and training center moved in. They gave the exterior a makeover, a new coat of paint and a new entrance vestibule.
Wisconsin was also home to the inside-out BEST store, which was located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. When BEST closed that store in 1985, it was remodeled into a big plain box. Half of that building was taken by Kids "R" Us childrens' clothing store later on, complete with the "racetrack" window design.
here is my forum on best
http://bestcatalogshowrooms.proboards.com/
We did not have them here in the Pittsburgh area.
We had Service Merchandise, plus two regional catalog showrooms,
David Weis and Dahlkemper's.
I worked for David Weis and Service Merchandise.
then I have a service merchandise forum for you to join located at http://servicemerchandise.proboards.com
We had several Best stores in the Philadelphia area. I lived near the Best/Basco store that was located at Roosevelt Boulevard and Comly Road. It was originally Normandy Square Mart. This store had really huge "BASCO" letters in front of the store.
Quote from: MikeRa on February 19, 2019, 11:54:26 PM
We had several Best stores in the Philadelphia area. I lived near the Best/Basco store that was located at Roosevelt Boulevard and Comly Road. It was originally Normandy Square Mart. This store had really huge "BASCO" letters in front of the store.
There was also a Best/Basco on Chestnut Street, in Philadelphia (between 11th & 12th Street) in a building that originally included a Men's Store for Snellenburg's.
There was a BEST store in Los Angeles which was looted during the LA Riots.
I recall watching news footage of this.
Due to this the management at Service Merchandise was spooked about riots.
They were quite nervous the day the O.J. Simpson verdict was announced. We
were told not to have any TV or radio news on in the store that day.