10 Facts About Service Merchandise

Service Merchandise was a retail chain of catalog showrooms carrying jewelry, toys, sporting goods, and electronics.

Service Merchandise had other wholly owned subsidiaries featuring retail stores such as Zim's Jewelers, HomeOwners Warehouse, The Lingerie Store, and The Toy Store.

Service Merchandise was a prominent sponsor of Wheel of Fortune.

Until its closure Service Merchandise enjoyed a strong jewelry department, continuing as the largest watch retailer in the United States.

Service Merchandise later filed a voluntary Chapter 11 petition to improve relations with its vendors and creditors in an effort to stabilize its business.

Related searches

Service Merchandise attempted to pull itself out of bankruptcy in summer 2001, but the economic downturn following the September 11 attacks proved to be a hurdle the company could not clear.

Service Merchandise had an unusual ordering process which emphasized the catalog, even within the showrooms.

Current Service Merchandise catalogs were placed on stands in strategic locations throughout the store to allow customers to shop for items not on display.

Also in the mid-1980s, Service Merchandise experimented with the installation of drive-through windows at two showrooms, allowing customers with phone-in orders to pick up their orders without leaving their automobiles.

Service Merchandise was known as one of the largest corporate donors to the Muscular Dystrophy Association during its time as an established company.