The New General Store

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• If people didn't like this somehow, all these stores would have closed and everyone would still go to the corner shop for biscuits. It's too late now anyway, these stores are not going away, at least some of them. There is a glut of retail big box in North America, because of overbuilding and such. Just read an article on CNN about life after a Walmart closes. The stores are converted into community centers, churches, etc. I imagine you could have quite a few basketball courts in there, daycare, etc. Maybe even put a pool in. Not much profit in that though....

• Didn't the Walmart on Tecumseh Rd just build additional store room and warehouse space to their existing building to deal with the overflow? I think it was built this year in anticipation of dumping the Woolco building by next year. I suspect that the Woolco blg will be demo'd by next year and probably end up being another useless parking lot for many more years to come.

• Speaking of shopping does anyone remember the catalogue shopping in Windsor where you go in and they would have catalogues and you would fill out a slip and then they would retrieve your merchandise from the warehouse in the back. I think the stores were called consumers distributing. I'm pretty sure one of the buildings is still standing on Huron Church and is occupied by Columbia Sportswear.
  Does anyone know if any of these are still operatinng elsewhere?

• Consumers Distributing it was indeed, Guido. There was one on the east side of the 2400'ish block of Dougall as well. You browsed the catalog, filled out the form, stood in line, got the counter, waiting for the clerk to return and tell you the item you wanted is out of stock. I think that nonsense is what helped run them out of business in the mid '90s.

• Wrote about this Woolco a few years ago:

  http://www.psychogeography.ca/blog/archives/00000031.htm

• I remember my mom taking me here when I as a kid too. Followed by a stop at N&D to round out the trip.

  I find the ad interesting..."While today’s shopping may seem more impersonal, the experience is a thrill for most shoppers because of the vast array of merchandise and the convenience offered the customer." The loss of personal interaction was recognized even back then but apparently not considered overly important, a welcome sacrifice for "convenience".

  I wish I would have known the city before the 'big box effect' started.

• I worked at the Zehr's on Dougall when Consumers closed. Must have been 1991 or 1992.

  Zehr's bought the land and tore it down. The Zehr's gas bar sits on the Consumer's land today.

  I forgot about the one on Huron Church.

  honestly, that had to have been the dumbest set up for a retail store ever.

• Consumers Distributing was a catalogue store in Canada and the United States that operated from 1957 to 1997. At its peak, it operated 217 outlets, including almost 90 stores in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and California. Its US corporate headquarters was 200 Metroplex Drive in Edison, NJ.

  Consumers Distributing aimed to reduce costs for customers by storing goods in an ine, instead of displaying them in a costly showroom. Customers made their selections from a catalogue, filled out a slip with product identification, and waited for staff to retrieve the items from the warehouse.

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumers_Distributing

• Also, kinda cool link... not Grade A web authoring but a quick fun browse down memory lane and back again - http://www.moonie.ca/glenap/cd/cd.html

• Many folks remember when the LCBO operated much like a Consumers Distributing -- but with added Protestant Ontario shame of getting your booze in a brown paper bag.