Prior to the 1990’s, an extremely popular retail business model was the “catalog showroom” store. Best Products, Service Merchandise and many others were great places to buy higher value products (furniture, jewelry, stereos, tv’s, equipment, etc.) at a discount price. Shoppers would wander the store, see what was available or on sale, and then place an in-store order for pickup on the way out-similar to IKEA. One business advantage to this model was lower “shrinkage,” ie. loss from theft. An advantage to the customer was service: products were promptly delivered on exit via conveyor belt and then loaded into the customer’s vehicle at the curb. Most of the staff worked in the warehouse adjacent to the showroom.
If catalog showrooms like Best had just survived the 90’s, then they would have easily made the transition to online with local delivery warehouses. Amazon may have never existed…