Catalog showroom retailing peaked in the early 1980s, and all but a few small companies disappeared by the end of the 1990s. But one former catalog showroom executive isn’t ready to let go of one of the trade’s biggest names yet. Raymond Zimmerman, the former CEO and part-owner of Service Merchandise, bought the Internet domain name for the now-defunct marketer in November and has relaunched the company as a dot-com jewelry marketer, according to the “Nashville Business Journal.”
The site is being operated in a joint venture with Ice.com, a Montreal-based online retailer. Ice.com, which earlier this year bought the online customer list from Service Merchandise, manages and provides fulfillment services for ServiceMerchandise.com.
The publication also says that Zimmerman is considered opening a “second generation” of Service Merchandise stores or exploring franchise possibilities.