# Which Dead National Retail Chain Would You Magically Resurrect? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 22, 2025, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965 "2025-03-22T23:09:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/201 "2025-03-25T15:53:22Z")
Weren’t they the ones whose catalog had a “secret” coding for the prices? ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/202 "2025-03-25T16:07:09Z")
York Steak House. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/203 "2025-03-25T16:22:04Z")
Although not technically dead, Shakeys Pizza is only on the west coast and overseas. So I would bring t back to the rest of the country so I could enjoy outstanding pizzas in an enjoyable environment again. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/204 "2025-03-25T16:47:55Z")
Someone up-thread posted that Service Merchandise was able to sell under MSRP, which was unusual at the time. But I don’t recall a secret code. At the same timeframe in the 1970s, my parents we were managers at a farm-oriented business. They brought home a book that was very similiar to SM (but with lots of horse gear and saddles and cowboy hats). That catalog had the retail list price in the obvious place, but the wholesale price was at the end of the product code. It was interesting to see how much stuff got marked up by comparing the two prices. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/205 "2025-03-25T16:50:14Z")
I also don’t remember _anything_ about Service Merchandise having secret price codes and since @california_jobcase is the one who mentioned it, perhaps they can elaborate? ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/206 "2025-03-25T16:52:09Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > I never actually shopped at **Fry’s** , but I vote to resurrect them just because I want to be able to experience what it was that made everyone love them so much. For me at least love is a bit strong. As Dr.Strangelove notes and peccavi alludes, it was never particularly well run even its heyday. Shopping there wasn’t exactly…pleasant. It just had literally everything electronic, which was worthy of respect and mighty useful. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/207 "2025-03-25T16:58:22Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I also don’t remember _anything_ about Service Merchandise having secret price codes and since @california_jobcase is the one who mentioned it, perhaps they can elaborate? I don’t know about Service Merchandise, but I had friends who worked at Shopko (the Wisconsin-based discount chain mentioned above), and they shared with me a secret code that was printed on the price tags which were stuck on each item (back in the early '80s, before using UPC codes at checkouts was widespread). The price stickers had the normal sale price, as well as several obscure codes; one line apparently listed the “wholesale” price at which Shopko had bought the item from a manufacturer or distributor. In that code, the wholesale price was encoded using the swap cipher “HEAVYSTOCK,” where each of those letters corresponded to the digits 0-9. So, if the sticker read “ATH,” that translated to $2.60 (i.e., “A” = 2, “T” = 6, and “H” = 0). ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/208 "2025-03-25T17:07:48Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > The [Shopko] price stickers had the normal sale price, as well as several obscure codes; one line apparently listed the “wholesale” price at which Shopko had bought the item from a manufacturer or distributor. In that code, the wholesale price was encoded using the swap cipher “HEAVYSTOCK,” where each of those letters corresponded to the digits 0-9. So, if the sticker had “ATH,” that translated to $2.60. Fans of William Poundstone’s _Big Secrets_ book series will recognize this ten-letter substitution cipher to denote wholesale pricing. Poundstone didn’t call out Shopko (or any other chain) by name, but wrote that many retailers used such a cipher on their labels. One example he gave was based on the ten-letter term NACHTMUSIK. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/209 "2025-03-25T17:13:53Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Sears here too (which tanked due to spectacularly poor management IIRC) My last job before I retired was at Sears. A common belief among employees was that Eddie Lampert did that intentionally – gutting the corporation (Sears Holdings – Sears + Kmart) to get every cent he could out of it as quickly as possible. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/210 "2025-03-25T17:15:43Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > > [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > > > Does anyone else remember **Peaches Records & Tapes**? > > Yeah, there was one less than a mile from my house here in Chicago. It morphed into a Coconuts, which sold music as well. Or were they just a rebranded Peaches? I don’t know. I thought my friends were pulling my leg when they told me the record store was changing from Peaches to Coconuts. One at 95th and Cicero in Oak Lawn. My niece and nephew loved to go to”Peaches, formerly known as Coconuts.” They are 50 and 52 now and still talk about it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/211 "2025-03-25T17:17:42Z")
Oh, yeah, maybe it was the other way around. That sounds more familiar now that you mention it. It was Coconuts becoming Peaches. We had one on Pulaski, just south of Archer. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/212 "2025-03-25T17:25:55Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > Until several years ago, there were regional retail stores called FRED’S here in Memphis. I loved that place! There was one on the way home from work and I went in there a few times a week. The store wasn’t that large but they had a little bit of everything - pharmacy, food (but not frozen), small appliances, small furniture, rugs, clothes, toys, books, hardware, seasonal stuff. The perfect place to go when you needed to get something quick and easy. I do miss it. Fred’s had many locations in the Jackson, MS area circa 20-25 years ago. I remember them fondly as well … kind of a vestige of the old five-and-dime stores. Fred’s stock was of significantly better quality than, say, modern-day Dollar General or Family Dollar. I remember buying a lot of baby stuff there when my daughter was little, from decent-quality baby clothes to diapers, sippy cups, toys, and more. The Fred’s chain closed about 1/3 of it’s locations in 2011, and then the rest of them in late 2019 after bankruptcy liquidation. Thinking about Fred’s made me think of a similar chain of discount stores, **[TG&Y](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/fa/6f/70/fa6f708234f87b4411a55f8b4ed74aab.jpg)**. They left the New Orleans area by the mid-1980s. I still have kid memories of buying those **[cheap Ben Cooper Halloween costumes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Cooper,_Inc.#/media/File:Ben_Cooper_-_Empire_Strikes_Back_boxed_costume_C-3PO_-_1977.jpg)** there, plus other Halloween sundries (vampire teeth, cheap “crayon” makeup, candy, etc.). ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/213 "2025-03-25T17:27:02Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Oh, yeah, maybe it was the other way around. That sounds more familiar now that you mention it. It was Coconuts becoming Peaches. We had one on Pulaski, just south of Archer. It was Coconuts, formerly known as Peaches. I did a little Google fu. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/214 "2025-03-25T17:27:55Z")
One price was listed regularly with the dollar sign and decimal, while the member’s price was shown as digits only. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/215 "2025-03-25T17:33:46Z")
Not national, but there was a really nice store called [The Andersons](https://columbusunderground.com/the-andersons-closing-all-retail-store-locations/) in Ohio. I think there were four locations. Big stores, with just about everything for home and garden. They closed them in 2017. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/216 "2025-03-25T17:35:58Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > One price was listed regularly with the dollar sign and decimal, while **the member’s price** was shown as digits only. Maybe Service Merchandise operated under different retail models in different places … but the locations around here (New Orleans metro) were not membership clubs (cf. Sam’s, Costco) or anything like that. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/217 "2025-03-25T17:42:10Z")
Same here. I don’t remember that Service Merchandise stores had any kind of membership. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/218 "2025-03-25T17:43:26Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Fry’s Electronics. One of the most poorly run chains I’ve ever run into, and awful in a lot of ways–nevertheless, if I needed some piece of equipment _now_, whether a few resistors or some RAM sticks or some oscilloscope probes, I could get it there. Better than Radio Shack ever was, IMO. I loved Frys. On our Vegas vacations, I always made a point of stopping there to nose around and found all kinds of things that were handy. I liked it so much better than “Amazon gambling” because I could actually see if the gadget was practical or not. Then, during our last Vegas trip in the fall of '23…bang, it was gone! ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/219 "2025-03-25T17:52:48Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I don’t know about Service Merchandise, but I had friends who worked at Shopko (the Wisconsin-based discount chain mentioned above), and they shared with me a secret code that was printed on the price tags which were stuck on each item (back in the early '80s, before using UPC codes at checkouts was widespread). I’m pretty sure Service Merchandise didn’t have those codes because my husband worked at places that did have those codes - they weren’t exactly meant to denote the wholesale price. They were meant to let the commissioned salespeople know how low they could drop the price to make the sale. No need for a code in a “no-haggle” type store. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/220 "2025-03-25T18:00:50Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > > [@Gyrate](#): > > > > Sears here too (which tanked due to spectacularly poor management IIRC) > > My last job before I retired was at Sears. A common belief among employees was that Eddie Lampert did that intentionally – gutting the corporation (Sears Holdings – Sears + Kmart) to get every cent he could out of it as quickly as possible. I heard that as well. This is also SOP for investment firms specializing in predatory buyouts. It’s a shame because Sears was a decent mid-range shopping experience and the Kenmore-branded appliances and Craftsman tools were generally pretty good. (I know Craftsman still exists – it’s now a brand of Black & Decker, IIRC.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965.md?page=12)