Great big department store catalogs?

[Unstable]

@Sateryn76

Hear Hear!

I was just yesterday telling my daughter about the wonder that is the Service Merchandise catalog! It had toys! Super reference book for filling out your Christmas list…

And then I told her about the “Pickup” system they had when you checked out. And thinking about it, I was wondering why some stores didn’t do it that way anymore.

I was wondering about these stores too just a few days ago, I miss them or more, I miss their catalogs!

They had the best catalogs around and as you mention listed toys! It was the most complete listing of toys available at the time (Sears holiday catalog was an okay second). Pages and pages of toys with pictures… Ah, I spent many hours just drooling over the stuff I’d never get and the catalog alone was quite a treasure for me.

One thing I remember about these stores was the wait for your items to come up front. Even when not seemingly busy, it could take quite a while for employees to locate items in the back.

[Zsofia]

@Shagnasty

Get yourself a subscription to In Style magazine. Make sure your mail box is reinforced first though. It isn’t technically a catalog but everything it is annotated with the price and source. I will have to look at the page count but it is easilly as big as many of the print catalogs of yore.

Forget that - get a bridal magazine. The funny thing is, the ads are kind of the point of those things, that’s why there’s so many of them.

[MissGypsy]

Those giant catalogs cost a fortune to mail. The big JCPenney’s book cost about $8 each to mail, back around 2000, when I worked for a [del]catalog warehouse[/del] literature distribution company. Most of the big books split their catalogs into smaller, more specialized versions. Simply cheaper to print and mail.

[Darth_Nader]

There have been some posts elsewhere about the iconic Sears catalog and it’s GI Joe seven-foot long aircraft carrier… That’s what i’m talkin’ about. X-E posted this, damnit.

Those catalogs were my internet, I guess.

I miss 'em. And I’ve looked. There aren’t any more.

[Galena]

If you do it right, you can still get a catalog from JCPenny’s for free. Just order a few times a year from their website, and they’ll send you a coupon for a free catalog to pick up in the store. My mom gets these about twice a year.

Also, the scientific and chemical supply companies (like Sigma and Fischer) still send out massive catalogs. Of course, those are only useful if you are in the habit of purchasing rubber gloves or sulfuric acid.

[Green_Cymbeline]

http://www.abcdistributing.com

I saw this catalog at the hair salon recently and it has a lot of decent cheap stuff in it, and it is like 1 1/2 inches thick. Now, it’s supposed to be a “business-to-business” catalog, so I just ordered it under the name of my freelance web design business, which I run out of my house.

Their site says: “Please note, abc distributing is a business to business catalog and only ships to business addresses.” But they can’t tell whether your address is your home or business, can they?

Anyway it’s a cool catalog (you can order online too).

[SmackFu]

@Sateryn76

And then I told her about the “Pickup” system they had when you checked out. And thinking about it, I was wondering why some stores didn’t do it that way anymore.

Is it Circuit City that still does this? You buy electronics, and then go wait by the conveyor belt.