“ I have heard that in Jamaica, you go to the store, state what you want to the clerk behind the bullet-proof counter (just like a bank), hand him your money and get what you requested from the bullet proof carousel. Maybe we’ll start doing it that way here as well.”
Catalog showrooms such as Best Products and Service Merchandise were popular in the US during the 1980’s. The store had one of each item it sold on display in the showroom. You wrote the stock numbers of the items you wished to purchase on a slip of paper and then paid for them. Then you walked to the pickup area where the items were waiting.
Super Walmart’s and the big box category killer stores (Best Buy, Toys R Us, Bed Bath and Beyond), which carried larger assortments of key items, killed the catalog retailers in the 1990’s. Now online retailing, with even larger selections and home delivery, are hurting Walmart and the big box category killers.
The ultimate consequence of the $750 no prosecute law will be even fewer grocery, drug and convenience stores in poor urban neighborhoods. The few that remain will charge higher prices to cover shoplifting costs. Social justice activists will complain about food deserts, high prices and lack of choices in the inner city. Companies will be accused of racism for closing money losing stores. City and state governments will offer big incentives for stores to open in the urban center. Social warriors will complain capitalism doesn’t work. Academics will receive government grants to do studies to prove the point. The cries for socialism will get louder. The downward spiral will continue.
[Catalog showrooms such as Best Products and Service Merchandise were popular in the US during the 1980’s.]