The Catalogue Showroom: Shopping by Number

Before shopping meant clicking “add to cart,” there was another way to turn a wish list into something you could take home: the catalogue showroom.

You browsed the catalogue, checked out the displays, and wrote down the item number. Then came the wait while your purchase emerged from the stockroom. It was part shopping trip, part treasure hunt, with a little warehouse magic at the end.

For many Midwestern families, that experience meant K’s Merchandise. Based in Decatur, Illinois, K’s offered everything from jewelry and electronics to furniture and home goods. It was the kind of place where a practical errand could turn into an afternoon of imagining what else might look good at home.

Service Merchandise brought the catalogue-showroom experience to shoppers across the country. Its conveyor belt made picking up a purchase an event of its own. You had already chosen your item, but watching it arrive somehow made it feel like a surprise.

Then there was Best Products, another familiar name in shopping by number. Best added a memorable twist: some of its showrooms featured playful, unconventional architecture. The building could be as much of a conversation starter as anything inside.

These stores offered a shopping experience somewhere between browsing a department store and ordering from a catalogue. You could see what you wanted in person, but your purchase waited behind the scenes until you asked for it.

The showrooms are gone, but the little rituals remain: the catalogue pages, the order slips, and the anticipation at the pickup counter.

Bygone Brand’s K’s Merchandise, Service Merchandise, and Best Products designs bring back a time when “your order is ready” meant looking up from the counter, not down at your phone.