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There was a hardware store (True Value?) in the vague area where Morgenstern's was. It was there in the 89-90 school year, probably closed after that, because I think Morgenstern's opened in 91. --Jkonrath 15:40, 5 May 2006 (EDT)

What was Morgenstern's? -- Mark 15:48, 5 May 2006 (EDT)

Morgenstern's was probably the best new-book store Bloomington ever saw. It was very Borders-like, before Borders became commonplace. Lots of great books, coffee for sale in the back, great staff, good news rack, and most importantly, buy ten books, get one free. They opened in 1990, and once they got in full swing, it justified to Borders and B&N that B'ton was a good market for a big book store, so they both built one within a few hundred yards, and it destroyed them by 1995. I guess everything about them sounds old hat now, but you have to remember that the only new-book stores in 1990 were Walden's in the mall, or the campus book store at the IMU, so this was a total paradigm shift. --Jkonrath 16:55, 5 May 2006 (EDT)

Service Merchandise

It closed very early in my time in Bloomington, but wasn't Service Merchandise on the other side of the street where Marsh is now? Across from K-mart and Bloomingfoods. -- Mark 15:48, 5 May 2006 (EDT)

You, sir, are correct. Service Merchandise was open through the middle 1990's before it was closed and razed. The 3rd Street Marsh sits atop the location of the Service Merchandise Catalog Showroom (it was not a full line SM, just a catalog showroom). Chris 15:54, 5 May 2006 (EDT)

What was the difference between a full line SM and just a catalog showroom? All the SMs that I've been too had a showroom where you could buy stuff. What kind is that? -- Mark 16:01, 5 May 2006 (EDT)

The one in Eastland Plaza just had a showroom, and you pointed at what you wanted, handed over your cash, and they sent the stuff to you (or maybe they made you come back and pick it up). They did stock smaller stuff, though. So in about 1994, they built a much bigger warehouse-type building further east on 3rd (is that a Marsh now?) and that one actually had a lot of stuff on the shelves available for immediate purchase, although it did have a very Sam's Club/Costco look to it. And for big-ticket items, you'd bring a slip of paper or tag to a cashier and they would get the real stuff from the back room. Both stores coexisted for a matter of months, and then the one in Eastland was razed and became the Borders.

My friend Larry Falli (who is all over the place in my glossary, if you've read it) actually worked at the latter version of SM in 94-95, and might know a little about it, if there are any other pressing questions about it. --Jkonrath 16:50, 5 May 2006 (EDT)

Sorry to even further confuse this, but for a while there was another Service Merchandise location in the mall, a retail one. If you walk in the entrance just south of Sears on the west side of the mall, there was a store immediately on the right hand side (across from the bank of payphones). I think they may have only run it seasonally though. Jkonrath 14:06, 6 May 2006 (EDT)