Bankrupt - BEST Products Co.
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- Опубліковано 28 сер 2024
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It's well known today that all department store retail in America is pretty bland and uninspired. Walmart, Target and others all look more or less the same. But there was one retailer in the mid to late 20th century that shook things up a bit. That invested into insane and bizarre architecture for their showrooms and was led by charismatic and innovative family. The BEST Products Company ultimately grew into 200 stores across the country and revenue of over $2 billion. But it all came crashing down in the late 90's and now is more or less forgotten about as truly one of the most unique retailers in history. So join me today as I explore the history of this truly incredible company.
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There’s a pattern to these stories.
- Visionary founder
- Early success
- Over ambitious expansion
- Victim of economic downturn
- Change of management
- Loss of original appeal and dilution of brand
- Sell off of underperforming stores
- Bankruptcy
After "change in management" add "acquired by investment firm."
And in Toys R Us's case being resurrected as a changed entity game of thrones style
Capitalism for ya
Always a leveraged buyout - saddles the store with debt they can’t claw out of. What a crock
Sometimes less is more, especially in the business world.
As a graphic designer it's just amazing seeing how creative theese stores were but also at the same time such a shame that the stores weren't preserved for the afterlife, they all look so amazing and I wish todays stores would be so creative creating unique stores to become a unique brand by its stores. But all we get are all the same concrete blocks with glass without any style and concept :/
Maybe it was waiting for ya 😉
Every few months for the past few years I have gone back and watched either the whole series or just the first 3 being pan am, carnival cruise lines and TWA I am probably the biggest fan of the series ever
Fry's Electronics store did something similar, each location had a theme that was usually based off a movie.
so true, today its all about prefab - erecting the store in as little time and cheapest budget possible to begin trading
agree, I really love their store facade!!! so sad nowadays we cannot see it live today. I really imagine, if BEST still around, I bet they will make annual architecture design competition, and their store will be a must visit by architect and design student. I really love the forest, the antisign, and the tilt, and the legacy is really strong too, as we can see some brand make similar ideas for their store.
It's honestly depressing to see all of those beautiful buildings be replaced by such bland structures that we could easily pass without knowing its history.
"Welcome to our gray, concrete, soulless emporium, monkey. Now dance for us and give us your money."
It's people who killed it. Costco proved that people really only care about price for quality and nothing else. Why waste money on things that people won't pay for?
@@thunderb00m personally, I believe the concept could work today if they also had a good online retail page to go along with the stores.
Many million people buy overpriced coffee at Starbucks. The product is average at best but the stores are set to feel comfortable and some of them can be eye catching too. Same with Apple which didn't have nowhere near the push for catchy stores back when BEST went out of business.
Yeah. That hurts.
The demolitions/altercations of the BEST showrooms by SITE are a crime against Architecture
Altercations? Or alterations?
@@JCtechwizard altercation, as in I want to have an altercation with the monsters who greenlit the alterations
The people who bought the properties had history and something that would probably increase the property rate due to the architect.
But I suppose in the 80-90’s people cared more about “refurbishing” the way they want rather then maintaining history or keeping the “grandfather” status.
Prinde
@@Dr.Sho_Minamimoto Some of the design aspects may have violated modern code but grandfathered until building was sold and had to go through inspections and remove certain things to be approved for commercial use.
I worked there in the early 80’s. They had a computerized ticketing system that was really cool. You wrote down the 6 digit number of the item you wanted and handed it to be entered into the system. Then a ticket was printed in the warehouse where I would get the item, put it on the belt and would be sent automatically to the front of the store where customer would pay. This was the first time I ever used a computer. Eventually most of the items people wanted were always out of stock so business went way downhill. It was really fun while it lasted.
I remember that!
I was a child in the 80s and man I LOOOVED the end of Best shopping trips where we would go to the pickup area and see all the different things sliding down from the conveyor belt. It was so exciting to guess which thing was ours. Totally forgot about that, haha!
I can't remember the exact year I worked for Best Products but I remember our store in California had a vacuum tube system. Once you wrote down the item you wanted, you gave it to an employee and they would send your order via the vacuum tube to the warehouse where we would pull the product and send it down the conveyer belt and then the customer would pay for it. And if I am not mistaken, there were conveyer belts in different departments of the store.
@@clayboutin400 you are correct - there was a vacuum tube system to deliver the order to the warehouse. in the store I worked at, the tube system was replaced by a computer system that would print the ticket in the warehouse. but, as computers were a new thing, it would go down once in a while, and the tube system would be used as backup since it wasn't actually removed. once the computer system was back up, the orders that were sent via vacuum tube had to be entered into the system to keep inventory correct. oh man, that just reminded me of the yearly inventory we would do - once a year the store would shut down and all employees would go to the warehouse and help with inventory. fun times!
I worked in the Maryland store for a couple of years. I remember working in the warehouse by myself. Thats how slow business was right before they finally shut down.
I love finding out about these companies I’ve never heard of. It would’ve been incredible to just drive by and see the artsy fascades of those 9 unique-looking stores. It’s such a shame things turned out like they did
@lowkeyer Gaming hes a bot
@@kamildouglas wrong. they have early access to the video because they are subscribed to Bright Sun Films Patreon
When the company went under, the one in my town turned into a best buy (genius!)
@@davidgriffin9247 I go there all the time. I can still sorta remember the layout of the Best store. I think there was a Best near Florin mall too, though it was just a standard building. One which, if i remember correctly, is still there. Maybe that's the Burlington's, or was the Burlington's. I don't get out on Florin much.
You rarely see this much commitment to artistry in ANY industry these days.
I recently visited a design firm for the first time. They happen to be in a building with other businesses and the building is still stylistic architecture. Inside the building is very modern and the design of the workspace is pretty cool. It's modern but they're constantly changing the look of the space to show off different things they've created. I don't know if it's anything like other design firms because this was my first time ever touring one.
I really appreciate seeing older architecture still around rather than cookie cutter skyscrapers
The design of the buildings reminds me a bit of Meow Wolf!
BEST was still building and opening new locations, right up to the very end! I was a commercial electrician in the Seattle area, and we built a BEST store in Issaquah, a suburb. We had finished the store and they were busy bringing in merchandise and stocking the store when the final bankruptcy occurred. It never opened to the public. A very strange experience as someone in the construction trade.
Oh, ya. I remember that. I heard it was a "best store", and I was like "best buy?"
"No. Best."
"Best at what?"
They werent really known out here much.
I painted a few brand new Radio Shack locations after the bankrupt was final.
That was weird.
They were never going to open, just be completed.
@@MoreTubContentOnMyChannel Wow that had to be a really weird experience! Did you half-ass it or did you go full out on the painting as you usually would? I got to imagine it's hard to want to care too hard when you know it's futile. What a strange situation!
Where was the original location? And what exists there today? I've only been to the Issaquah mall, so I'm not as familiar with the area as I'm from North bend.
Must be how a few Target Canada construction workers felt at the very end
The architecture was truly unique and kudos to the Church that saved one.
Yeah, they can really pack 'em in and give all their money to Jesus.
The "Forest" one in Richmond, which still exists as a church, had an amazing Christmas light display. The Lewis family has a wing of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts named in their honor.
Is that the one off midlothian take?
This reminds me exactly of the one in the West End of Henrico county, kinda near Regency Square Mall?! I loved going here as a child! They had a lighting celebration with the forest covered in white lights and refreshments and good deals for grown ups while kids had fun. The Christmas season was so fun in Richmond! Nothing can beat seeing the REAL Santa at Thalheimers downtown with all those escalators! I just loved it. And Bruce Spruce ... Ahhh the memories... I'm not sure if there were two locations like this? It was a magical feeling with that atmosphere and I think we even dressed up a bit!
The forest one wasn't off Midlothia. I watched it again and it was on Quiocassin in the west end. God it was beautiful. I miss Richmond and my childhood!!! Thank yoh for this!!!! I've been hoping you would cover BEST! Service merchandise gave me the feeling!!!
@@amberyoung7219 I lived about a quarter mile from there. I could see the lights from my bedroom window as a boy.
@@amberyoung7219 I laughed at the "real" Santa! I can still smell his cologne. Both of my Grandmothers worked for Miller and Rhoades and would take us over to see him.
Unbelievably sad that this amazing architecture wasn’t preserved after these stores closed 😭 and the fact that this brand didn’t survive to build even more epic structures.
shame company's have to have the lowest prices to stay in business😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
I agree! Too many of these architectural marvels seemed to be too easily altered/destroyed! The uniqueness of the Best structures should've been preserved and given landmark status!
I'm honestly surprised there isn't anything on these structures in SimCity 4 or C:S forums, those sites are legendary for recreating everything from every brand of American retail chains to full scale models of the Neuschwanstein Castle complete with terrain altering mods. I think there's even a few Fry's Electronics recreations.
I really appreciate your willingness to incorporate former employee interviews into your content. It’s extremely refreshing given that UA-cam journalism is often so impersonal. The interviews are a reminder that these organizations, and those who act as decision makers, affect so many lives.
Wow, this video brought back some memories. I worked at the BEST products store in Phoenix, AZ on Cactus Rd back from 1995 to 1996. I was part of the presentation team (aka the P-Team) that was responsible for building all the displays. Also worked in the stores warehouse fulfilling orders.
BEST had a really unique way of purchasing merchandise. A customer would come in and see a product on the shelf and sometimes demo it in the store. The customer would then walk up to the ordering station where an associate would check stock and order it from the warehouse. The warehouse received a print out of the item and go fetch it. They’d put it on a big conveyor belt which brought the merchandise up to the cash registers. The customer would go up to the register and pay for their merchandise and hand the customer their merchandise.
Definitely quirky, and something you do not see from the big box retail stores.
I worked in the warehouse at a store in Va in the 80’s, and yes I remember the process exactly as you described it. Also, I would unload the truck and put the item # on the box before putting it in inventory. When the power was out, or computer problem, there was a backup system using vacuum tubes to get the order to the warehouse! I had a lot of fun working there…
There's a UK store called Argos which works in a similar way, except instead of a showroom you select items through a series of tablets at the front of the store. Like an Amazon type interface, but you receive your item quickly.
I hear that's how B&H works.
I remember going to this exact store as a kid! It was a unique location and unfortunately it became so many different failures after they closed that store.
This gave me chills, good ones. I worked in the Moorestown, NJ store for a couple of years and, to this day, have never worked for a better company or with better people. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis were not only kind and generous, they genuinely knew the people who worked for them, with them, and remembered our names. I still have the first piece of jewelry I ever bought for myself. It's an 18ct yellow gold ring, with white gold inlay, surrounding a 1/2ct solitaire diamond. Such wonderful memories; thanks for sharing the Best story.
thanks for sharing. It's great when people who were part of a long gone company give their insight about it
I worked at the San Leandro, California Best Products from 87 until 89 . Great place to work ❤️
I remember shopping at that location with my parents. The customer service felt so personal.
My experience with Best was horrible. Now I know this was because the company was managed by outsiders. Sigh.
I also shopped at that store as a kid. I would spend hours wandering the isle as well as looking through the catalog. I also love the conveyor belt where you would pick up your purchase at the end of the trip
My father started the sporting goods department at Best in the 60s, and my mom is in one of the photos in this video. It was a nice trip down memory lane.
Wow! That's really cool
As a kid, it was a super thrill to see your items coming down the conveyer belt. We didn't have a lot of entertainment options back then.
I used to live in Richmond during Best Products heyday. I remember shopping at the Forest showroom and it was spectacular during the Christmas season with the lighted trees. The Lewis family lived in a beautiful house on Monument Avenue and I recall two pieces of modern art in their front yard. One was a giant clothespin and the other was an old fashion typing eraser...the eraser was wheel shaped on the end of a brush.
as a canadian i've never heard of this company until i saw this video. wow, the buildings were GORGEOUS. it's such a shame retail stores won't invest in such unique architecture like best did. home goods stores like ikea or eq3 and the like would benefit from that sort of design as well, since architecture and interior design are so closely related. i can't fathom why no one would try to preserve more of the buildings.
Corporatism is unfortunately the answer to why not preserved. It doesn’t fit their staid, consistent image and design. It would have take equally creative and non-corporate tenant to appreciate it and preserve it. Most were probably owned by or bought by other real estate corporations that didn’t see any value in it either-takes more effort to find the unique tenant to occupy them anyway.
Service Merchandise was the Canadian equivalent
@@awesomefanger : Service Merchandise was here in the US, too.
Target is the only store I can think of that feels like it’s at least trying
I live in NY and never heard of this company
I used to live behind the BEST in Richmond, Virginia. A church moved in and kept most of the architecture and added even more landscaping, creating a tranquil atmosphere.
BEST was an interesting concept for the time. Most stores were setup as showrooms where you could get your hands on products and demo them. You then took a ticket and gave it the cashier and they would pick your order from the back. There were plenty of experts on hand to help you out, and people seemed happy to work there.
The closest modern equivalent to a BEST type of store is Best Buy.
BEST on Hull Street & Chippenham? Spent a few years in late 70s in RVA, always loved going there
This made me so sad seeing them demolish those buildings. They were works of art, the most unique ones I’ve ever seen🥺
I live in Richmond and the company still has a large influence, despite being gone. People still talk about it fondly, and the cafe at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is named after the brand.
oh my god? this video made me fall in love with everything about the architecture and brand design of this company, it's so different and looks so modern even today! truly atemporal
btw jake you're making me hate big boxes design
Getting the BEST catalog at Christmas as a kid was always a thrill for me. I also remember visiting one of the showrooms a few times as well. Great walk down memory lane!
It wasn't just the architecture. This was the only store I ever wanted to go into with my mom as a kid because the things they had for sale were fascinating.
Reminds me of Fry's Electronics; Really sick custom made themed buildings, and just went to shit do to miss management (gambling and money laundering.)
Since they've officially gone under now, I hope Jake does a video on them soon as well. When I moved to AZ a few years ago they had one location left here and since it was one of the last legs of the company it was a pretty shit store, but they definitely used to have some good stores back in their hay days from what I've seen.
@@GarrettRSV4 Oh shit I went to the same location, the Aztec building right?
@@nickrustyson8124 no I never went to that one, I went to the one off of Baseline and the 10, they never had what I needed xD, just googled the Aztec one tho, wish I had gone there instead! haha
Fry's was the bomb. I went to a bunch of them. I was there all the time, especially after Radio Shack closed.
I went to a Fry's in WA when I lived there for a brief time. Was really cool inside with lots of interesting custom shelving and lighting. The whole inside was a mood.
The recurring theming of deconstructed / crumbling retail buildings is some eerie foreshadowing.
I was 11 years old when my Dad (an architect) took us to the grand opening of The Notch. When that corner rolled out and all the balloons came out it was amazing! That's why when were in FL for a vacation & needed a new suitcase, of course we went to the Cutler Ridge location! Watching your order come down that conveyor belt was another fun part of shopping there, felt so modern compared to other stores
I loved the BEST buildings when I was a kid. We moved up and down the East coast a lot and I would always look for the local BEST to see what how the building was different.
It's crazy how their original idea is what Amazon is trying to do now by putting physical stores for people to view the product in person before ordering online
They were more like Service Merchandise stores.
They remind me of what Ikea is today and at some degree Costco as well. And that's also said in the video.
@@luisinhoens90 Best was certainly at the forefront of innovation. Probably just grew too big and unable to change with the changing dynamics of retail.
Holy hell…I haven’t thought about BEST in years. The only thing that I really remember about that store was being able to play 3DO at the display when I was younger.
what's 3DO?
I've watched quite a number of your videos, and am always struck with the depth, respect, and passion you approach these topics with. This one, for some reason, hit me deep. The atmosphere this company bred is the kind I wish I worked for. The kind I could feel proud to be a part of. The kind I could feel good about at the end of the day. And the architecture....wow. I was just blown away. I think I discovered my favorite architect. When you started listing how each had been destroyed, I was devastated. Revealing the last one, and that it still existed, I almost wept with relief. What I took away from this video was profound: companies today might be focused on ever-creative ways to make a dollar, but real greatness in a company is making an experience that people (both customers and employees) love coming back to, and remember fondly, and sometimes longingly, when it's gone. Today's companies are "style over substance", where this company showed you can be both, and be all the greater for it. Here's to hoping we have a Renaissance of all the great things we want to bring back from the past, to our future. Bravo, sir, this was an amazing episode. Thank you for all the work you do.
Golly, absolutely loving this series. The episode on Kodak especially. I think a deep dive into Polaroid would be fascinating!
I usually feel nothing when you talk about these bankrupt companies but though these stores were before my time (I was only about 6 or 7 when they went bankrupt), this one is actually sad to me due to the effort put into the buildings and customer service. Really sad that they went under.
Whenever you hear about a leveraged buyout you know nothing good is going to come of it
No joke. I'll give my company my two weeks notice the second I hear those two words.
Has there ever been one that went well? Guess the rich get richer and the rest get unemployed.
But no blame for the founders? Odd. If the founders didn't hit a dead end and had focused on that instead of esthetics maybe the outcome would have been different. There's a mention of COSTCO. Most people want the stuff they want. They don't care about the look of the place as long as the price is reasonable and the stuff they want exists. Didn't the guy say COSTCO was 30-40% cheaper? Don't blame the buyers of the company on the founder's ineptness. That was already there.
Instead of "Oh, the building is so pretty!!!" like Best, COSTCO goes "BUILDING". The pizza is over there, the meat dept. in that corner. The electronics over here. Do a UA-cam search for COSTCO Taiwan, COSTCO Australia, COSTCO Japan. It's the same basic building. They use the same colors, the same cardboard signs. The same fonts on the signs. The same brands.
Private equity firms are the vampires of companies. They rape and pillage their victims, turning any good aspects of the entity into money for themselves, then spit out the desiccated corpse. Often they will run up huge debt (taking the money for themselves) and then file for bankruptcy so they don't have to pay it back. Thousands of employees can go pound sand. Investors can go pound sand. Debtors can go pound sand.
Agree. I’m in finance. I can tell you know that nothing good came from a private equity leverage buyout. There purpose is to load with debt, strip obsence dividends and hopefully sell a crippled business to another patsy. Rinse and repeat.
I'm from Richmond so seeing all the pictures of RVA was surprising! The founders, Sydney and Frances Lewis actually donated huge collections to the Virignia Museum of Fine Arts and there are two galleries housing their collections permanently installed. Since they valued art, they would trade appliances for art from famous artists, and they amassed many pieces. Andy Worhol got a fridge for a commissioned piece. One stipulation they had in donating to the VMFA is that Frances's incredible jewlery collection had to stay together and on display, where it can still be seen today. One photo you used of the two of them is actually them at the gallery opening, I recognize the marble room. These galleries are free for the public and are a nice way to spend an afternoon.
So, they did have a massive cultural impact on Richmond beyond Best! We were just talking about them in my Museums class at the VMFA!
I'm almost 50 and knew nothing about Best until now. Great video, as always!
It's a shame they couldn't save all the buildings the architecture was so uniique
American capitalism demands identical concrete boxes.
@@Nimmo1492 Lol! It's too bad because this shows how innovative these designs were and even today they'd attract customers. The company sure took pride in their stores.💓
@@Nimmo1492 "American capitalism" is what made them unique.
@@Nimmo1492you don't know anything and you're just repeating what a streamer told you
I wish more stores would realise the value of interesting buildings, like they did at Best and in the 1800s and earlier.
I agree, but cost is a major factor. Costs extra to build, and especially maintain. An inefficient building will bleed your bottom line.
@Safwaan - Yea.....i get it. However, cost overrides everything. I wish it wasn't so, but that's the world we live in. I'm not saying i like it, just that's the reason everything is the same and boring.
Fry's Electronics did that. Too bad they went bankrupt due to mismanagement.
Cost and maintenance may be a big factor, but it could lead to more sales / traffic.
Heck, there's a whole lot of modern art style buildings that exist today that don't look half as good / interesting as the ones in this video.
So I don't think cost, maintenance, interest or willingness is an issue.
@@POIUYTREWQ62 - Unconventional buildings add time to construct, which adds cost. If it DOESN'T lead to higher sales you have a higher cost to pay down, and could be stuck with an albatross. Why put yourself in that position just on the possibility it pans out?
That's not how business works. It's about minimizing risk, and reducing expenses. I'd love to look at interesting architecture, but somebody has to pay for it.
"Often efficiency trades places with creativity." Pretty profound statement. I love it
I loved BEST. I live in San Diego, California, and mine was on the site of a former drive-in theater (near El Cajon Blvd and Baltimore Dr.). It's now a Burlington Coat Factory. I bought so many things there as a teenager and early-twenties. It was always a pleasure to shop at. I really miss them.
I worked at the BEST Products in San Leandro. Great place to work and it was a lot of fun. The building still stands but it's a Big Lots. This is at a place called the Greenhouse Shopping Center.❤️
Jake I just wanted to let you know that I watched Closed For Storm through Prime and both my mom and I loved it! She was on the couch trying to nap and she actually sat up and kept listening and watching the documentary because she found it as fascinating as I did. We both sat and talked about it for a long time after it was over. We couldn't imagine living in New Orleans and passing by the wasteland of the park knowing how impactful it was before. Superb job! Now she knows you have a UA-cam channel! Great work sir!
Use to shop here as a kid. My parents would get STEALS when it came to their Scratch & Dent items. Once again Jake, you hit a home run!!! Awesome!!
Wanted to share some interesting information with y’all. In a few photos you can see that on top of one of the storefronts there was a giant Native American statue. That statue’s name was Connecticut and he ended up at a baseball stadium in Richmond in 1985. He has been moved again after that and now is currently in storage apparently undergoing restoration work. Hopefully he will be put back on display soon in Richmond. :)
The day you posted this is almost the same day I was wondering what happened to this brand. Thank you for such a click memory, and explanation.
My favorite memory of Best was watching the conveyor belt come down from the second floor with your products. As a young kid , thought that was the coolest thing ever.
The architecture was absolutely incredible!
Why hasn’t any billion dollar company attempted something like this!?
It requires effort and the little goblins to not grasp every dollar so hard they mold them to their fingers.
I'd argue that some have, it's just that our architectural edge has moved from where it was when Best was doing it so it isn't as obvious. So, for example, you don't look at an Ikea or Apple Store as innovative, but 50 years from now we might. The other edge for retail architecture right now is adaptive reuse of historic buildings. Apple, again, as an example, recently spent several million dollars to convert an old Carnegie Library in Washington DC into a flagship store.
@@QuintusAntonious Interesting 🤔
In some situations its because they dont necessarily need to use something flashy to attract customers because there's often not a ton of competition or varieties of store to choose from so your already going there to get something because they exist and are the only place that has it so why spend the money when its not getting you more customers?
Because creativity is to much for the modern dystopia that has bleed architects of their fantastic minds
In the 80's I loved going to Best just to walk around and check out their product.
I remember going here with my mom and younger sisters a lot as a kid especially to get silverware and various things for the house. Thanks for covering this
Wow BEST products. I too remember day dreaming about getting stuff out of their catalog. But even better, I lived near one of these stores and actually got to buy something there. About to date myself here, but was a 20 inch color TV for my grandmother along with a MONO VCR.
Fun fact: The BEST store that I am referring to was in North Randall, Ohio. In the shadow of that oh-so famous retail behemoth that was Randall Park Mall.
Even more of a fun fact: That building still stands today and is currently a mix of about 3 small stores. At one point, I believe it even hosted an alternative high school for the local school district.
Oh wow, that's the BEST we used to go to and I grew up loving the BEST catalog. I think our last purchase there was a ping pong table in the late 80s. And much love for Randall Park Mall and the 2 arcades, May Co and Higbee's.
We used to go to that location too! I think about it every time I’m in the area. I can’t remember what we got there, but I know we had stuff from that place and I loved the catalog. Later we would go to the U.S. Merchandise store as well.
Loved Randall Park Mall and the Best Products store there. I worked at the Parmatown store location and that too is still standing, has been a few restaurants and a fitness center for a while as the warehouse was on the 2nd floor off limits to customers. The Sandusky Mall store was also a great place. Overall, I soo miss Best Products.
I totally remember Best. I lived in central Michigan growing up, and before we really had many Target, Wal Mart, Best Buy, or Circuit City type stores, we had one Best. It was just a normal Best architecturally, but I remember loving it. I actually got my very first CD player there, a boom box style one, in the very early 90’s. I always remember the brand, but like you mentioned in the doc, I never hear anyone else ever mention it when getting nostalgic about things. And it’s wild to me how little evidence of the brand exists now, when it used to be pretty huge. Since my store was such a normal design though, and just being a kid, I never knew how innovative and involved in the art world they were before watching this. As a person very into the arts, that’s just very cool to me.
I'm pretty sure I went to the same Best!
My family used to goto the Best in Saginaw all the time. Bought a Sega Master System from there.
@@matthewkris6055 Yep, that was the one I went to too.
I had the pleasure of visiting Best with my parents as a child. The staff in the 90's still had that deep focus on the customer that is so difficult to find today. My mother was able to get a retail display for me that I thought was really neat, the employee promised to set it aside when it was due to be taken down and let my mother know when that was likely to happen.
What was the retail display set?
I wonder if they ever did commercials for their stores? Also the building for BEST products looks amazing. Nice job Jake.
Yes, they advertised on TV and radio. One Christmas, their radio jingle had "This is the BEST time of the year" to the tune of the "Rocky" theme. Their slogan was, "When America wants value, America knows BEST!" Their store in Corpus Christi, TX (not a weird one) now houses the local ABC affiliate. The Austin location became a trade school. When I lived in Dallas, before BEST came to town, my family shopped a local catalog showroom called Sterling.
There wasn't one of those amazing SITE-designed Best showrooms in my area, but there was a pickup place that my family frequently used until they closed. I distinctly remember going there as a little kid with my grandparents and being in awe of the "magic" conveyor belt used to bring orders to the front for pickup. It's nice to see it featured, since Best kinda feels forgotten.
Love the interviews you do, you can about the numbers and get a picture of why it shut down, but the human element is so important this was people's lives, 25 years in this case. It's probably why those empty stores resonate so much with people, how those empty spaces feel rather sad, rather than just an old shop.
Love the catalogue shown at 5:36. I live in the Norfolk area and the location at Independence Boulevard was a rather generic-looking Best store which was demolished and replaced with the area's first Best Buy around 1997. I always found it interesting how it went from one "best" to another.
I remember that best and fun story I worked at that Best Buy lol
@@oliverjones1845 Must've been an easy commute! XD
You can change that from Norfolk to Pinole and Independence to Fizgerald and that was exactly what happened at the Best in my area.
@@joshuabessire9169 I'm sure it happened in a lot of places. This led to my dear mom thinking that Best just renamed itself to Best Buy, and I've repeatedly had to tell her that the companies are not nor have ever been related and that the fact that a Best Buy went up on the former site of a Best store is noting more than a coincidence.
I remember very well seeing photos of the first few quirky showrooms in the late 1970s. I wished I could see them in person, and also wished they'd inspire more such architecture to appear elsewhere - which unfortunately they did not.
To be fair Fry's spiritually continued the trend of cool buildings, tho it too recently died during Covid
I worked at the Parma, OH Best Products store, while in college and I LOVED IT. We had some great merchandise and jewelry. Our managers and co-workers were like a family. It wasn't one of the designer showrooms as they were called, but we did a terrific business while in the Cleveland area. It was one of the 'Best' places I've worked and was a wonderful store.
Nice to hear about a company that actually treated their employees well for a change. Stories like that are practically nonexistent today.
This really brings back some memories. I remember going to the BEST store in Sacramento (the one with the moveable wall) often with my parents growing up in the 1980's. And yes, I do remember one time going early in the morning with my dad to watch the wall open up. The funny thing, is I remember the building well, but really nothing about what was inside of the building. It was very ironic that it was eventually replaced with a Best Buy. I do recall however that for the first few years, Best Buy keept the "notch" and it wasn't until several years after they had moved in that they resigned the facade and removed it. Was very sad to see it finally go as it was a unique piece of Sacarmento retail history.
I remember the "notch" store also. I didn't live in Sac but Amador County. It was a family trip to go there cause of the Florin Mall and other stores in the area. I remember a awesome restaurant near there called Po' Folks. Then Price Club came in and I don't remember the last time I ever stepped into that Best. Price Club at the time seemed so superior. And you are right! The "notch" looked cool, but inside, it was very dull, nothing special.
@@dirtjello It opened when I was in jr high or high school. bought many things there. Watched the store open once. It was a catalogue store that catered to my mentality. I want to feel it, turn it upside down, see how it's really made. I have only bought one item once online because of that mentality and it was the third of that exact product in several years that I purchased as I already knew the product and what to expect.
Judging by the thumbnail, at first I thought this was a smosh sketch, but this was way better
So glad I found this video. What a trip down memory lane. I grew up in Maryland and absolutely loved family trips to the Best Tilt Building as a kid. When Mom or Dad weren't watching, plenty of kids tried to climb the facade 😅.
I moved away from Maryland at 17 for college and didn't return for many years, so I was very saddened to drive by the Tilt location a couple of years ago and see it gone. I knew Best had gone out of business, but I figured the architecture was so amazing that whatever businesses occupied their spaces would keep them as is...sad.
Great video, Jake. I appreciate you doing Bankrupt episodes for regional stores like Ames and Caldor, too 😃!
What I take away from this: Customers came for the thrilling architecture, stayed for the good service, and left when both didn't matter any more due to economic decline. Capitalism 101.
I love all your content, Jake, but I think Bankrupt is my favorite of your series. Completely defunct companies I never heard of are even cooler than the ones I do know of. Keep up all the great work, man.
Another well written business documentary. My business major heart gets exited when I get the new video notification
I am in awe that you did this one. I watched your video on Caldor, and I was like, he has to do BEST. I am disappointed that I cannot remember if I went to an actual store. I grew up in Maryland. But, I remember the catalogs for sure. It's a shame that these very unique, architectural buildings were not preserved. Oh, I'm sure in person they were certainly something to see. At least one of them is still around. Maybe I can get to see the one in Richmond, VA that's still there for now. And it's a shame that the buildings we have now are so bland and homogenized. Nothing creative. And I'm sorry that the family didn't retain ownership because we you invest in your people, that's when you flourish.
I remember going to my local best store in Richmond at 17:55. I still remember the design of the store's exterior & walking through that forest. As for the office building, its supposed to be torn down to make way for a new complex with a new arena to replace the arena here as well as new offices, shops & residential areas. But the eagles statues will be part of the new area as well, the county made sure of that. It's such a shame that this company went bankrupt. My family loved Best stores and it was a shame that they went so quickly.
I worked at a Best in the mid 80's. The store I worked at didn't have a special storefront and I never knew about all of this history. It was a fun place to work, and was quite busy when I worked there. Thanks for the history lesson!
The Best store with the flowers was just a little up the road from my childhood home. I loved that store!
Also as a graphic designer these buildings are just amazing! From a period where companies were run by humans, not greedy hateful multi-national corporates. No wonder it collapsed. Wish I had been alive back then to see and appreciate it all. Funny how the catalogue and main store was decades ahead of internet shopping! Great video Jake
Blame Socialism
@@friedrichhayek4862 there is no socialism in America, what are you talking about?!?
@@vysharra
Yeah, I was meant to say blame the State. (TIK History's anarcho-capitalism semantic blunders entered my brain)
For last you are very wrong, firstly Labor Unions are socialist institutions that exists in America, and second there is a lot of socialism of the new left in America.
@@friedrichhayek4862 no, there isn’t. There isn’t even a social-dem party, Bernie Sanders _might_ be one if you squint, but there is exactly zero political “socialist” representation in the American government
@@vysharra Literally the entire democrat Party is Neomarxist.
I'm so happy to see that 1 of those 9 buildings still stands, and the church saved it. We had a Best in town. I remember buying a Databank watch there.
Finally a documentary on BEST!!!
I live in Virginia. I grew up with those store and the catalog. I was absolutely fascinated by the conveyor belt system and LOVED the toys. I remember when my local store basically replaced the toys with school supplies and it made so sad to watch it go downhill and ultimately closed. That store and it's catalog helped a handicapped single mom make her child's Christmas every year.
That’s awesome :)
@@StamesJevens Thanks!
Man I remember Best.
The store fronts were second to none . Grew up with the one in Hialeah Florida one that the front was a terrarium and always blew me away as a kid
Sadly it’s an Office Depot now
The loss of those structures is heartbreaking. And the fact that they were replaced with buildings with no unique features is even worse.
Being from Athens Ga I had never heard of BEST . Your intro to the brand and interviewing former showroom mgr Mr Randy Allen w/ his telling of Mr Lewis’ phone cal to pick him up personally ( in his rad 280Z ) was on-point Jake., and gave me superb insight and told me WHO this company was. Great job as always Jake. 👍👍
I live in a Sacramento neighborhood behind the old Best location that had the bottom corner of the entrance that slides out. It was always really cool to see as a kid. Ironically, it’s now a Best Buy.
I have never heard of this company before, super interesting! I looked it up and it recommended “Service Merchandise” as a recommendation of similar companies!!! I remember my family shopped at service merchandise and my old neighbor worked there back in the day!!! This store seems more interesting and more intricate!! Love it!
I just thought about Service Merchandise....
Lafayette,Indiana had a Service Merchandise.
I remember shopping at one of these when I was a kid, I believe the building is a Goodwill now.
Was always weird buying things with tickets and picking it up in the back after you paid.
When I worked for Toys R Us we use to do this for a while too, but eventually gave up on having people drive around back.
Isn't that kind of like IKEA?
I remember shopping occasionally at Best back in the 80s. Am in Florida. I recall us driving over and visiting the Hialeah story once or twice.
I also recall an article in Time magazine (I think) at the time which highlighted their interesting architecture of other stores.
Service Merchandise was a similar company with a catalog and showrooms where there was a similar picking system.
What a blast from the past! I grew up going to Best Products showroom in Rockville, MD. Then in the early 90's was Co-Manager at Best Jewelry store in Columbia, MD. I helped out at that Towson, MD Tilt Building for a week when their jewelry department management staff was shorthanded. I wish you'd touched a little more on the Best Jewelry stores as even in the last few years - our stores were still profitable. I always thought what a shame they didn't keep them open and close only Best Products. I loved educating my customers on diamonds and gemstones then invited them to compare Best's jewelry to the other jewelers in the mall. None could compare in price and quality and my customers' serious about buying always came back to purchase. I resigned about 2 years before full closing as I saw the writing on the wall and for personal reasons, but have always maintained it was my favorite job ever.
I have never heard about Best before so interesting to hear about the history and why they close down. Love the different store design so cool 😎
It would've been cool if the glass rainforest windows were kept and used for a large Rainforest Cafe. I dunno I think that would be neat
Problem is rainforest cafe is also going out of business
@@clownfromclowntown Shit. Forgot about that…
That one made me think of Rainforest Cafe too. In the sense that both companies provided a unique spin on their corner of the market, it's a shame neither could last. I wonder if any businesses in the future will be inspired by the architecture of some of these stores and restaurants that hold a lot of nostalgia.
Thank you for covering Best. I loved their catalog as a kid. The would have replicas of British royal crowns for sale in their catalog.
I have good memories of Best, even though the one my family shopped at (Arlington, Texas) was closed at some point in the mid-eighties. I got my Atari 2600 Pac-Man at that store. I'm pretty sure I got my first Rubik's Cube there. I can easily imagine that location was one of the unprofitable ones closed early in Best's financial stumbles, that neighborhood wasn't great. Little by little everything around the Six Flags Mall area went under and changed in shocking and drastic ways.
My wife and I bought our wedding bands at the Best store in Akron Ohio 28 years ago. And today February 11 is our wedding anniversary. We lasted, Best didn’t 😢
I hope your second marriages are as happy!
@@wintersbattleofbands1144 Our business plan is solid we, won’t be restructuring, management isn’t selling out. Your attempted takeover bid was rejected.
One of my earliest memories of living in Virginia, is driving around and seeing the huge BEST letters on the back of the mall near our house, and occasionally going there.
I lived in Houston when Best had its store up and running, and I will tell you, the place was unique, but it was expensive for our household. Also it was located away from the main streets that surrounded Almeda Mall. It was also a remote site. Almeda was far outside from downtown Houston and the area was not wealthy enough to have made this store any profit. And while the outside was neat and architecturally interesting, the inside was pretty much regular department store esthetic. Now, in my opinion, Fry’s Electronics pushed the envelop when it came time to the look of their stores. Each one had a theme. It was like visiting theme park, but where you can buy electronics or a dishwasher. Fantastic!
i like going to astros games
I remember walking into BEST at Arden Fair in the 80s to play with Casio / Yamaha keyboards, having the sales guy write fill out the form on the POS machine and walking to check out and receiving my new keyboard... In my 20's I went in for the liquidation to walk through the iconic corner entrance... Months later it was disassembled and Best Buy turned it back into a box. Thanks for recalling this memory of my youth and was shocked to hear the Sacramento building was a one of its kind. Cheers
Fry's Electronics (now defunct I believe) is the only retailer I can think of that also had fun with their buildings. Here in Phoenix we have an Aztec theme and the Tempe location had a golf theme.
They're gone now. The Vegas store had a giant slot machine for its entrance. The Burbank store had an alien theme.
Austin store was a giant piano. Fry’s was the best. Nothing like em. Far superior to Best Buy or similar.
yeah my local Fry's in Fountain Valley was the Roman theme, with faux stone all throughout the store and working (with water!) aqueducts that ran all through the store. I've also been to the Tropical one in Burbank and the Space one with the big faux Shuttle (I think that was Alameda, CA?)
@@LindaFromSeaAtTull did they change it? The Burbank one was a tropical island theme when i was a teen, around like 1997-98ish
I remember Best so vividly from my childhood that when Best Buy opened up, I assumed for the first couple of years that it was the same company.
I'd kinda figured the same, since our local Best -- a more "normal"-looking store -- was remodeled into a Best Buy around 1990. I vaguely remember shopping there with my parents in the late '80s, wandering off and exploring some bunk beds and playhouses for a bit when I was maybe 5 or 6.
This is amazing content, Jake. Had no clue about Best. Its a huge disappointment that James Wines no longer contracts. His designs are spectacular stuff
Im glad you featured this company since they never had any where I lived.
Excellent installment in the Bankupt series! I used to work at Best Products in Citrus Heights, CA. while attending college. A strong sense of team (family) and excellent managers made it a fun place to work! The Christmas rushes were crazy, with customers trying to buy anything that wasn't nailed down! Thank you for creating this video.
I grew up in the 80’s looking forward to the catalog as kids before me looked forward to the Sears catalog. We had a local location at the original Stonewood Center in Downey, CA (suburban LA-where Boy Meets World was filmed), probably closed before the new Stonewood Mall replaced the open air lifestyle center before the type introduced the car-based Main Street typology typical of outdoor malls today. The funny thing is, I never realized it was a catalog company, since it was a retail store that had a catalog too, like Sears. The building was nothing special either.
I used to shop at Best in Richmond VA all the time. It was heartbreaking when they closed their doors only to have the unoriginal Best Buy replace it by riding the coattails of best products once success. Best Buy proved itself to be blatantly unoriginal (by utilizing the best products name into theirs) and grossly overpriced with customer service that would only rival Walmarts.
I used to pass the owners of best products home everyday. It used to have a huge paper clip in the front ... The home was and still is a beautiful historical home located on monument avenue but now owed by a different family with the same historical beauty.
Thanks for the blast from the past I enjoyed it !
I’ve lived within an hour of Richmond allmy life and never heard about this chain! I was born in ‘96 so they were gone before I was old enough to have known about them. I’ve Driven past the warehouse and HQ buildings many times and never knew their history. Appreciate you sharing this!
This is such a cool retrospective and one of my favorites yet from you Jake! I’m only a little older than you but grew up in Richmond, heard stories of Best and had no idea the Forest Showroom was still standing. Btw - 19:15 - the “Connecticut the Indian” statue was created back when our baseball team was the Braves, and still exists today- I believe it’s on top of an old factory that was turned into apartments.
I frequent that best buy in Sacramento. I had no idea but it makes a lot of sense. The way they just stuck the doors on the corners always felt awkward. Now I know why. Also the DSW is on top of the best buy, which always seemed weird. You have to take an escalator when you enter. Makes sense that it was a 2 story show room, they just split it into two stores.
Best is not the same as Best Buy - different companies.
As a child I went to that store quite often. And, been going to it for years as a Best Buy. I still remember a lot of the layout as Best. There was also a Best in the Florin area. That building is still there as well, pretty sure. I remember when many of the buildings in the Sacramento area were other things. Getting old I guess.
@@voltagebinary1006 yes, but best buy moved into the Notch Location.
@@Pantheragem I love finding old "relics" like this. Like how the original 80s Kings arena was turned into offices that are still there. I dont remember much from florin mall but i do remember going a few times before it closed. Random tidbit but My dad said he was at that Best when he found out about the challenger explosion.
@@cameronmccandless1146 yeah apparently that was a common occurance across multiple locations .. makes sense i guess lol
I get so excited anytime I see you've posted something new. You get better and better and better every episode! I really appreciated hearing from a former manager, as well. It really personalizes the episode. Great job - again. Thank you.
I just found your channel and I am in love with it.
And waw, i wish i was alive to have experienced this brand. Amazing documentary thank you for making and sharing this story.
WOW. This was so well narrated, it's hard to be so immersive in business content. RESPECT.