Fred Meyer Jewelers is a national chain of jewelers. It is a owned by Fred Meyer . A subsidiary of Kroger . The company also formerly operated under the name Littman Jewelers .
17-586: Fred Meyer Jewelers started in 1973 as a catalog showroom concept by Fred G. Meyer . As the catalog showroom fad started to die down, Fred Meyer was experiencing excellent sales growth in the fine jewelry category. To capitalize on this sales growth, Fred Meyer placed fine jewelry stores in their large multi-department stores and eventually shopping malls throughout the Western United States. In 1995, Fred Meyer Jewelers acquired 23 jewelers in California and
34-467: A minimum sales price to prevent price-cutting competition; it also reduces the risk of merchandise theft, known in the industry as shrinkage . From the consumer's point of view, there are potential advantages and disadvantages. The catalog showroom approach allows customers to shop without having to carry their purchases throughout the store as they shop. Possible downsides include that customers may be required to give their contact information when an order
51-712: A more consumer-friendly environment where the customer can examine the goods and confirm availability before approaching sales staff. As a result, this retail sector went into decline in the 1980s. As big box stores and internet shopping became increasingly popular in the 1990s, the decline of the catalog merchant business accelerated. Many companies in recent years have moved away from relying solely on catalog sales, augmenting them with online sales or direct retail. The move toward online sales includes long-established department store chains such as Sears and JCPenney that relied heavily on catalog sales. However, many long-established catalog merchants have gone out of business since
68-434: A payment and checkout station. The catalog merchant has generally lower prices than other retailers and lower overhead expenses due to the smaller size of store and lack of large showroom space. There are a few key benefits to this approach. By operating as an in-store catalog sales center, it could be exempt from the " Resale price maintenance " policy of the manufacturers, which can force conventional retailers to charge
85-404: Is a form of retailing . The typical merchant sells a wide variety of household and personal products, with many emphasizing jewelry. Unlike a self-serve retail store, most of the items are not displayed; customers select the products from printed catalogs in the store and fill out an order form. The order is brought to the sales counter, where a clerk retrieves the items from the warehouse area to
102-632: Is placed, take the time to fill out order forms, and wait a period of time for their order to be available for purchase. This wait may be days long, one of the chief vulnerabilities of the catalog showroom approach. Consumers Distributing operated over 400 stores in Canada and the United States, and closed in 1996. Competitors in the Montreal area included Cardinal Distributors (launched by Steinberg but sold to Consumers Distributing in 1979) and Unique (folded in
119-489: The United Kingdom , the sole national general goods catalogue merchant left in the high street market is Argos . Former catalogue retailers include Littlewoods , which owned the 'Index' brand as a high street competitor to Argos and Kays , which unlike Argos and Littlewoods/Index had no shops and sold only by postal orders. Littlewoods, Kays and existing Grattan built their businesses around offering credit, however in
136-587: The 1970s). Shop-Rite , which operated 65 stores in Ontario, closed its doors in 1982. Sears Canada Inc still issues over 15 printed catalogues every year. Included in these (15) printed catalogues are three (3) large catalogues - the Spring and Summer Catalogue, the Fall and Winter General Catalogue, and the popular Christmas WishBook catalogue. In fall 2012, Sears Canada catalogue issued its 60th anniversary WishBook edition. In
153-491: The 1980s, including Best Products , Brendle's , Ellman's , Jafco , KeyMid , Montgomery Ward , Rink's , Aldens , H. J. Wilson Co. , Service Merchandise , Sterling Jewelry & Distributing Company and Consumers Distributing . The Houston Jewelry & Distributing Company division of Sterling Jewelry & Distributing Company was successfully reconfigured as a full service fine jewelry and gift store in 1993 and has been in operation ever since. Houston Jewelry remains
170-473: The 21st century most High Street shops now offer store cards (a means of credit specific to the retailer) meaning these catalogues have lost some of their market niche. Littlewoods also ran a smaller catalogue that did not offer credit called Index . Unlike goods from the Littlewoods Catalogue, which were purchased via postal order, Index goods could be purchased at Index branches and some branches of
187-530: The Littlewoods department stores. Unlike Littlewoods, Kays and Grattan, who focused mainly on Clothing, Argos (and formerly Index) focus primarily on furniture, electronics and white goods. In 2001, Argos started a clothing catalogue called Argos Additions , however they sold the brand to Shop Direct Group in 2004. In 2021, Argos ceased production of its printed catalogue, but an electronic catalogue can be browsed in-store as well as online. Catalog merchants in
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#1732855938018204-683: The Midwestern United States, as well as Merksamer Jewelers. Eventually all of those acquisitions took the name Fred Meyer Jewelers. In 1997, Fred Meyer Jewelers acquired the chain of Fox's Jewelers that operated in six Midwestern states. Fox's Jewelers were eventually renamed Fred Meyer Jewelers. In October 1998, Fred Meyer Jewelers acquired the Littman Jewelers chain that operates in the eastern United States. Unlike other acquisitions, Littman stores continued to operate under this name instead of Fred Meyer Jewelers. In 1999 Fred Meyer, Inc.,
221-435: The United States have declined since 1980, in favor of chain discounters, big box stores, and internet shopping. Prominent among catalog merchants during the 19th and 20th centuries were Belknap Hardware and Manufacturing Company and Sears, Roebuck & Company . The repeal of the resale price maintenance sanctioning law in 1980 meant that chain discounters such as Wal-Mart and KMart could set and change prices at will, in
238-778: The model Penny Lancaster-Stewart and the TV presenter Nicky Hambleton-Jones . In May 2009 the company announced plans to cut over 1000 jobs at their bases in Bradford, Sheffield , Peterborough and London in an effort to streamline the company and return the Freemans Grattan Holdings company back to profitability. In 2012 Grattan announced plans to open a new head office in Bradford. The Bradford-based catalogue company sponsored Bradford City A.F.C. from 1989 to 1991. From 2006 to 2010, Odsal Stadium in Odsal , West Yorkshire , England ,
255-545: The only former catalog showroom to successfully return to a traditional jewelry format. Grattan plc Grattan is an English catalogue clothing retailer based in Bradford , England with 18 stores and 2 main catalogues and a number of specialty catalogues. Grattan has approximately 2,600 employees. Grattan catalogues was founded in 1912 by John Enrico Fattorini, in Bradford, West Yorkshire after he fell out with his cousin while working at Empire Stores. The company
272-648: The parent company of Fred Meyer Jewelers, was acquired by The Kroger Company. Today, Fred Meyer Jewelers operates across the United States in stores, in malls, and online. The corporate main office is located in Portland, Oregon. In 2020 and 2021, Fred Meyer Jewelers closed 71 stores, including all of their Littman Jewelers branded locations. This retail business article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Catalog showroom A catalog merchant ( catalogue merchant in Commonwealth English )
289-488: Was purchased by Next plc for 300 million pounds in 1986, a deal which saw Next outbid future Grattan owners Otto Versand . By the 1990s Grattan was the UK's fourth largest catalogue company with 13% of the mail order market. In 1991 Grattan was purchased by Otto Versand for 165 million pounds. In 2000 its administrative department was merged with Freemans , under the banner of Otto UK. Grattan's celebrity campaigns have included
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