HRTVFan2's video: 1986 Service Merchandise Commercial

1986 commercial for the Service Merchandise catalog showroom chain. The chain's roots dated to 1934 and a five-and-dime store owned by Pulaski, Tennessee couple Harry and Mary Zimmermann, with the first showroom opening sometime later in 1960, having $4 billion in annual sales at its peak while expanding into shopping malls. The chain also was a frequent furnisher of prizes for a number of game shows, most prominently Wheel of Fortune and The Price is Right. Things went well for the chain until the early 1990s, when - much like the larger retail world - it was blindsided by the rapid growth of some chain from Arkansas (😉); losing much of its housewares market to Walmart and Bed, Bath and Beyond while the electronics sales were impacted by the likes of Circuit City and the fast-growing Best Buy. The result of the losses to the big-box stores proved significant enough that not even being one of the first companies in retail to embrace the Internet helped much (throughout this, Service Merchandise still had a great deal of success in terms of jewelry sales). The chain fought back by shutting down unprofitable products to focus on their strengths such as jewelry and home decor. Later in the 1990s, the chain had success in subdividing company-owned stores and sub-leasing the new spaces to other chains. However, in 1999; a number of creditors forced an involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing in an attempt to gain court supervision over the restructuring process, with Service Merchandise later filing voluntarily for Chapter 11 as well (in the process, Raymond Zimmerman; the son of the founders, resigned as chairman of the board in November 2000). The chain's attempt to emerge from bankruptcy were doomed the following year as a result of the economic downturn immediately after 9/11 proved the knockout punch; leading to Service Merchandise to close its doors by early 2002 (by that time, the chain was down to 200 showrooms and had stock valued at less than one CENT per share)