Service Merchandise

[TRU7536]

Originally posted by TRU7536
Here is the old Service Merchandise of Newington, now a Stickey & Audi Furniture Store

The former Service Merchandise of Newington which became Stickley & Audi furniture is now closed. It will become now a L.A Fitness die to open in December of this year, It is located in the Newington Fair Plaza.

[TRU7536]

Here is the store.

EDIT: File size too large.

[videogamer75]

Originally posted by Great Eastern
Not begin rude to the friendly folk on the forum but Service Merchandise is no big loss for me.  I really didn't like them or Consumers Distributing.   You fill out those cheesey little order forms, hand it over to the clerk and 8 out of 10 times you hear," It is not in stock".

I remember back in the Atari 2600 and Intellivision craze back in 1980 to 1983 SM would advertise the new game releases like mad in the Star Ledger and Asbury Park Press.  You get there, hand your form over to hear those dreaded words.

I had a friend who worked for one in North Jersey and he said one of the stores biggest problems was that a lot of stores (including the Wayne, NJ one he worked in) kept a lot of non-moving stock in the warehouse.  He remembers working there in the mid-1980's and seeing stock for the 70's in there that wasn't even listed in their catalog.  He worked for a few others as a "floater" and they all were the same way.

Not putting down the people who liked SM.  I mean I was a Two Guys and Great Eastern person and I know a lot of people who didn't like them too.  But to me, SM (and Consumers Dist.) were just waste of prime real estate.

I have to agree with that. SM stores were usually old and dirty as well.

[Jonah Norason]

There was a Serv Merchandise in the local mall that was later replaced with a second Dillard's.

I also remember them in Houston, lining the strip malls until they slowly went of business.

I have a little car from McDonald's that looked like this (except much smaller):
http://www.jayski.com/schemes/98/94motegi.jpg
except the Service logo was on the back, McDonald's M was on top.

The last lighted Service Merch sign I ever saw was in early 2003 in San Antonio. The store, however, was gone.

The SM stores that used to be Wilson's have a distinct white raised part in which they printed the logo:
http://www.mallofmemphis.org/images//16392.jpg

That is in the Mall of Memphis. My local SM had a similar raised white thing, except now it's a Dillard's. It was Wilson's long ago, however.

[TheFugitive]

I worked for them in Columbus and in Pittsburgh, in between my stints with Ames and Hills.  They were a very well-run company, with very efficient systems.  Their IT infrastructure was years ahead of it's time.  They could have jumped on internet retailing in it's infancy and cleaned up, beating guys like Amazon to the punch.  All of the back-office needed to support it was already in place.  The fact that they did not do so belies the reason for their downfall.....that being arrogant, stubborn leadership.

[kendra]

It's probably a long shot, but I don't suppose anyone here has a photo of the Service Merchandise that used to be in Bangor? I am not sure exactly of when it closed, but the building was demolished and a Best Buy was built on the property that opened in 2001.

[Mobil]

When could mine have opened? This was in a plaza with Target, Toys R Us, Barnes & Noble, Linens 'n Things, and Marshalls.
Another one: Venture/Kmart, Office Depot
Another one: Venture/Kmart, Toys R Us
Another one: ShopRite, Sports Authority, Office Depot

In the case of the first one, was it more like 1983, or in the late 80's?

[Caldor1999]

Originally posted by Mobil
When could mine have opened? This was in a plaza with Target, Toys R Us, Barnes & Noble, Linens 'n Things, and Marshalls.
Another one: Venture/Kmart, Office Depot
Another one: Venture/Kmart, Toys R Us
Another one: ShopRite, Sports Authority, Office Depot

In the case of the first one, was it more like 1983, or in the late 80's?

what logo did the store have and what kinda style did it have ?

[Mobil]

Originally posted by Caldor1999

Originally posted by Mobil
When could mine have opened? This was in a plaza with Target, Toys R Us, Barnes & Noble, Linens 'n Things, and Marshalls.
Another one: Venture/Kmart, Office Depot
Another one: Venture/Kmart, Toys R Us
Another one: ShopRite, Sports Authority, Office Depot

In the case of the first one, was it more like 1983, or in the late 80's?

what logo did the store have and what kinda style did it have ?

All I know is they all had the red logo.

[Caldor1999]

Originally posted by Mobil

Originally posted by Caldor1999

Originally posted by Mobil
When could mine have opened? This was in a plaza with Target, Toys R Us, Barnes & Noble, Linens 'n Things, and Marshalls.
Another one: Venture/Kmart, Office Depot
Another one: Venture/Kmart, Toys R Us
Another one: ShopRite, Sports Authority, Office Depot

In the case of the first one, was it more like 1983, or in the late 80's?

what logo did the store have and what kinda style did it have ?

All I know is they all had the red logo.

hmm maby sometime between 1985 and 1995

[rjstheiv]

Former Service Merchandice in West Mifflin PA.


http://www2.county.allegheny.pa.us/RealEstate/Search.aspx

[C3Nostalgia]

Originally posted by rjstheiv
Former Service Merchandice in West Mifflin PA.


http://www2.county.allegheny.pa.us/RealEstate/Search.aspx

That's actually incorrect.  The former West Mifflin Service Merchandise is the PRC building next to that.  I happened to bump into an individual a while ago when I was taking pictures in the area again, and we got to talking.  I originally thought that the SM was the race bar as well, but he told me that the PRC building was the Service Merchandise.






 
And get this, the sign across from Century III mall is till scarred with the Service Merchandise name/logo.

[Caldor1999]

heres the novi mi location taken by  Douglas Fullerton in 2002

[Caldor1999]

trhe inside of the novi mi location

[gu4ever]

The only thing I remember about Service Merchandise was it was were to go to get Mom something state of the art for the kitchen. Back when black&decker had launched it's under the counter collection.... You know, it saved like 2 inches from the counter top to the hanging appliance?!!!! I had gone there for an under the counter coffee maker for a Christmas gift. 5 years later it started leaking and was time to be replaced, so of course I had gotten it at Service Merchandise and decided to go back to get another one....
I couldn't find them anywhere in the store and asked a clerk for some help, the response was priceless!!!!!!!
"you want a black&decker under the counter coffee maker"?!!
You'll have to go to Walmart we don't carry that kind of low grade appliance here!!
Needless to say that response actually made me not want to shop at a service merchandise again, since I only shopped there for gift giving needs it wasn't a big deal to find another business happy to take my cash on what would be considered a "low grade" appliance purchase...

[C. Fontaine]

Just saw a Service Merchandise sign on an episode of Cops from 2001, somewhere in Broward County, FL.

[jmcnamara96]

Heres one in  Cool Springs Galleria in Brentwood Tenn Saturday, Jan. 19, 2002
From The Hartford Courant

(MICHAEL CLANCY, Associated Press / January 19, 2002)


And Below That is Harwood Heights, IL

Photo: Tim Boyle/Getty Images
Jan 24, 2002

[jmcnamara96]

My Parents Gift Registry Was At Service Merchandise

[TRU7536]

Former Service Merchandise in Newington, CT. Now a LA Fitness

[Marc82]

Former Service Merchandise in Newington, CT. Now a LA Fitness

I guess that's the standard look for LA Fitness. The one in Bristol looks just like it.

[Caldor1999]

heres a old service merchandise in east meadow this location has since become a sprawl mart

[jmcnamara96]

The first pic is of Cedarhurst, NY
The second pic is of  Totowa, NJ
The third is of Hartsdale, NY

Propert of Siteride

[gu4ever]

Apparently Service Merchandise had a music department, here's a price tag from an old LP the Jungle Book.

[beachgal26]

Sorry that I don't have any pictures to post, but there were quite a few Service Merchandise stores in the Orlando and surrounding areas in Central FL in the 1980s.  There was one on Sand Lake Road, Colonial Drive and one in Melbourne.

Since they had such great variety and a really neat delivery system, I'm still shocked that they couldn't hold onto their client base enough to stay in busines!

??? ??? ??? ???

[NeverBeenToAnAmes]

heres a old service merchandise in east meadow this location has since become a sprawl mart

HAHA! Soooooooo many dead stores were at that location. I remember Great Eastern department store (with Hills supermarket) and then it was Woolco (where I bought my Atari 2600) then the Service Merchandise (and various tiny stores in an attempt to make it a strip mall of sorts) and now, sadly, it's a WalMart.

[TheFugitive]

Former Service Merchandice in West Mifflin PA.


http://www2.county.allegheny.pa.us/RealEstate/Search.aspx

Actually that photo is of the building that was next-door to the Service Merchandise in
West Mifflin, PA.

That building was a Foodland grocery store at the time.  It was the site of an infamous shooting
back in the mid-90's (the store was being robbed, a customer who was armed waited by his
truck in the parking lot, shot 2 of the 3 perps as they exited, killing one.  He was not prosecuted)

The Service Merchandise would have been just to the left of this picture.
The building is now a call center for some telemarketing company.

The Ladbrokes off-site betting place in your picture has closed down, and this building
is now vacant.

[buzz86us]

there was one in the Saratoga Mall in Saratoga NY that is all i remember of them

[bubcolbert1952]

It's a shame they went under around the same time as Montgomery Ward, even though you would think Service with their more modern stores would have had the edge over Wards. Both companies were major catalog retailers. Also, at the same time as Wards was going under, so did Lechters Housewares, which left a lot of empty spaces in malls, albeit much smaller spaces than the Montgomery Ward anchors as they closed.

[vwnut13]

I remember digging through the Hot Wheels at the store in South Burlington back in 1999.

Probably one of my strongest early memories that I have (I was 6).

[bubcolbert1952]

Service Merchandise should have gotten the attention JCPenney did in Back To The Future. Considering JCPenney stores in 1985 were already looking dated, I would think a more modern, hip retailer should have been featured. In fact Service Merchandise updated their logo in 1985, to a logo that perhaps was used too long. The company changed their logo again in 2000 but I guess it was too late to save the chain. Lots of the stores were given the new version, but the stores themselves were badly neglected and many closed looking old and outdated.