ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 9, 1997 TAG: 9702100064
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
It started as a single store, one where shoppers could view catalog merchandise up close and personal, and grew into a $2.1 billion industry with 200 stores - the No.2 catalog business in the nation.
Now, Best Products Co. is fast becoming something for the history books.
The one-time retailing giant shut the doors of its original West Marshall Street store in Richmond for the last time Friday. By tonight, all of the company's 180 stores - including one in Roanoke - will have made their final sales.
``This is a real tragedy in retailing,'' said Raymond Zimmerman, chairman and chief executive officer of Service Merchandise Co. Inc., the nation's last catalog showroom retailer, as he walked through a store Thursday.
``I can't believe the way these stores look,'' Zimmerman said. ``It never should have happened. This is very sad.''
Many of the customers streaming steadily through the aisles on the final days were not there to look at the odd dishes, necklaces and Christmas merchandise still sitting on the mostly barren shelves. They had come to say goodbye, not only to the stores, but also to some of the 11,000 people who worked in them.
Maryanne Orr traveled from Highland Springs in eastern Henrico County to see LaVerne Ellis, who has worked in Best's jewelry department for 19 years.
``She treated me like I was family,'' Orr said. ``It was never a business relationship. She wasn't interested in the sale, but in me.''
Ellis had the fifth-highest sales among Best employees in the country last year, and she has had a steady stream of well-wishers since the fall, when the company announced it was selling off everything and closing for good.
``This is a day I am not going to cry,'' Ellis said. ``I am saying my goodbyes to everyone and wishing everyone well.''
Unable to compete with larger discount chains such as Wal-Mart and Toys `R' Us, Richmond-based Best has become the largest retailer to succumb.
Until the end, Ellis said, many thought the end would never come.
``They thought something would happen at the last minute, but this is it,'' she said. ``This is the end of a dynasty, and, unlike an execution where you might get a last-minute reprieve, there was none for Best.''
LENGTH: Short : 49 linesby CNB