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Service Merchandise

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Service Merchandise
Company typedefunct private catalog merchant and showroom; active as Internet retailer
IndustryRetail
Founded1934
(revived as an Internet site in 2004)
HeadquartersOriginal company in Brentwood, Tennessee;
current company in Boca Raton, Florida
Productshome furnishings, consumer electronics, jewelry, watches, toys
Websitehttp://www.servicemerchandise.com

Service Merchandise was a chain of large stores carrying fine jewelry, toys, sporting goods, and electronics that existed from 1934 to 2002. The company's former chairman, Raymond Zimmerman, resurrected Service Merchandise as an Internet-only retailer in 2004 after buying the name and logo at auction, and later forwarded the website to another online store.

History

Beginnings

Service Merchandise was founded by Harry and Mary Zimmerman as a "five and dime" in 1934. The first catalog showroom opened in 1960 on Broadway in downtown Nashville, Tennessee.

During the 1970s, Service Merchandise was the nation's top catalog-showroom retailer. At its peak, the company achieved more than $4 billion in annual sales. As the company expanded, it began to open showrooms nationwide, mostly in the vicinity of major shopping malls, which were becoming vogue in the mid-1970s. In the early 1980s, the Service Merchandise headquarters were moved from Nashville to nearby Brentwood, Tennessee, becoming one of the first businesses to plant itself in the area that is now known as Cool Springs.

Downfall

The company survived into the 1980s but gradually lost business to giant discounters such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy. Until its closure, however, Service Merchandise continued to be the largest watch retailer in the United States. Service Merchandise was also late to embrace the Internet in the mid-1990s as a method of doing business, on both the internal and retail levels.

The company responded to its plight with a series of restructuring plans that included the discontinuation of unprofitable product lines such as electronics, toys and sporting goods, and focusing on fine jewelry, gifts, and home decor products. Many showrooms closed, and many that remained open were downsized significantly. The company succeeded in dividing many of its company-owned buildings into two or three parcels and then renting the newly-created space to other national chain retailers.

Bankruptcy and liquidation

While in the process of changing its retail format, a group of creditors forced an involuntary petition for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 on March 15, 1999, seeking court supervision of the company's restructuring. The company later filed a voluntary Chapter 11 petition to improve its relations with its vendors and creditors, and to stabilize its business.

Raymond Zimmerman, son of the company founders, resigned as chairman of the board in November of 2000. The company had attempted to pull itself out of bankruptcy once again in the summer of 2001, but the economic downturn following the September 11, 2001 attacks proved to be a hurdle the company could not clear [1]. With only 200 catalog showrooms left, stock valued at less than one cent per share, and no profitability in sight, Service Merchandise ceased operations and shuttered all of its stores by early 2002, owing over US$500 million to creditors.

Return of the name

Service Merchandise resurfaced on the World Wide Web in 2004, selling a similar line of merchandise. Raymond Zimmerman bought the former company's name and logo at auction, and he continues to be the owner of the newly formed company.

Showroom ordering process

Service Merchandise was well-known for its unique ordering process which emphasized the catalog, even within the showrooms.

For non-jewelry orders, customers would enter the showroom and be given a tablet which included an order form to record the catalog numbers of desired items. Items were displayed in working order in the showroom, allowing customers to test products as they shopped. Current Service Merchandise catalogs were placed in strategic locations throughout the store to allow customers to shop for items that were not on display. When ready to place their orders, customers would take the tablet to a clerk who would act as a cashier and submit the order to the store's stockroom (this process was altered in the late 1980s to allow customers to place their orders and pay by credit card with a computer terminal named "Silent Sam" which later changed to "Service Express"). The customer would then move to the "Merchandise Pickup Area", where the order would emerge from the stockroom on a conveyor belt.

In addition to jewelry and catalog showroom display items, Service Merchandise also had several self-service items, which were located on shelves, and taken to the checkout to be paid for as in a traditional retail store. These items included many of those in the toy department as well as smaller, low priced items (such as batteries, film, and video cassettes).

The jewelry department, which was featured prominently in the center of every showroom, operated on a first-come, first-served system, in which each customer would be individually served by a jewelry clerk.

In the mid 1990s, the tablets were replaced with barcoded pull tags placed on/near each item in the showroom. These were taken to the cashier instead of the tablet in order to purchase the item, which would still be retrieved from the stockroom. By the late-1990s, many of the showrooms had been converted to allow a more traditional approach to shopping in addition to the catalog ordering process. By 2000, all of the remaining showrooms had been downsized and the catalog-style shopping approach was officially abandoned.

Muscular Dystrophy Association

Service Merchandise was known as one of the largest corporate donors to the Muscular Dystrophy Association during its time as an established company. Chairman/CEO Raymond Zimmerman would appear multiple times on the yearly Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon to present donations on behalf of the company and its customers. Around each showroom were several collection boxes for MDA, and each store also sold MDA fundraising shamrocks at St. Patrick's Day. Even during its bankruptcy and liquidation, Service Merchandise continued to be a large supporter of MDA.

Former locations

The following is a list of the former Service Merchandise locations in the United States.

Former Service Merchandise locations

Alabama

Arkansas

Arizona

  • Glendale, Glendale Town Center - now subdivided into smaller shops
  • Mesa
  • 1360 W. Southern Ave. - now International Reupholstery Corp. (IRCA)
  • 6233 E. Southern Blvd. - now Ashley Furniture

California

Connecticut

Delaware

  • Dover, 1380 N. DuPont Hwy. - now Furniture & More
  • Wilmington, 1400 Rocky Run Pkwy. - now Raymour & Flanigan Furniture

Florida

  • 1455 Semoran Rd.
  • 5655 S. US Route 17/92
  • 14870 N. Kendall Dr.
  • 7775 40th St. SW
  • 7175 W. Colonial Dr.
  • 730 Sand Lake Rd.
  • 2999 E. Colonial Dr. - now AC Moore Arts & Crafts
  • 4340 Hillsborough Ave.
  • 1251 E. Fowler Ave.

Georgia

Illinois

  • 1320 W. 75th St.
  • Finley Square Mall - now Wickes Furniture

Indiana

  • 5501 Coldwater Rd.
  • Southtown Mall - closed 1997, torn down
  • 5100 W. 38th St.
  • 7803 E. Washington St.
  • Century Consumer Mall - originally half of Goldblatt's; entire former Goldblatt's space now occupied by Burlington Coat Factory
  • 2114 E. 80th Ave.

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

  • 5025 Shelbyville Rd.
  • 4601 Outer Loop Rd.

Louisiana

  • 4570 Johnston St.
  • Northgate Mall - originally Wilson's; now offices

Maine

  • Cook's Corner Mall - closed 1993, now TJ Maxx
  • Merrymeeting Plaza - now Shaw's

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

Ohio

  • 9450 Colerain Ave.
  • 5100 Glencrossing Way
  • 650 Eastgate Dr. South, Suite C
  • Cassinelli Square - now Haverty's Furniture
  • Northland Plaza
  • Service Merchandise Plaza

Oklahoma

  • 7301 S. Pennsylvania Ave.
  • 5537 Northwest Expressway

Pennsylvania

South Carolina

Tennessee

  • 9333 Kingston Pike
  • East Towne Mall (now Knoxville Center) - now Rush Fitness
  • Madison, 2130 N. Gallatin Pike - now American Signature Furniture
  • Memphis
  • 6120 Winchester Rd.
  • 9730 Giacosa Place
  • Mall of Memphis - originally Wilson's; entire mall vacant

Texas

  • 1530 W. I-20
  • Forum 303 Mall - originally Wilson's; vacant
  • 6500 Airport Blvd. - now offices
  • Westgate Mall - originally Woolco, then Wilson's; torn down for Central Market
  • 11250 N. Central Expressway
  • White Rock Marketplace
  • 2665 Hwy 6 South
  • 17727 Tom Ball Pkwy.
  • 12009 Northwest Freeway
  • 1410 Lake Woodlands Dr.
  • 1211 W. Bay Area Blvd.
  • Meyerland Plaza - originally Wilson's; torn down
  • Gulfgate Mall - torn down
  • 10225 Katy Freeway
  • La Plaza Mall - later Foley's Home Store, became Macy's Home Store 2006
  • 600 E. US-83

Vermont

Virginia

See also

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