Consumers Distributing: Difference between revisions

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'''Consumers Distributing''' (known in [[Quebec]] as '''Distribution aux Consommateurs''', and informally as '''Consumers''') was a [[catalog merchant|catalogue store]] in [[Canada]] and the [[United States]] that operated from 1957 to 1996. At its peak, the company operated 243 outlets in Canada and 217 in the United States,; includingthese included stores in every province in Canada and in the states of [[New Hampshire]], [[Massachusetts]], [[Connecticut]], [[New York (state)|New York]], [[New Jersey]], [[Pennsylvania]], [[Maryland]], [[California]] and [[Nevada]].

Consumers Distributing aimed to reduce costs for customers by stocking merchandise in a warehouse-type stocking system instead of displaying them in a costly showroom. Customers made their selections from a catalogue, filled out a form listing the items they wanted, then waited for stock staff to retrieve the items from the warehouse. The business model of Consumers Distributing has been described as "Internet shopping before the Internet".<ref name="woes"/>