Consumers Distributing catalogue 1984/85

[JohnWesleyMethodism]

Yep, that was one of my favorite parts of Christmas; the "Consumers Distributing Catalog." I remember a full page of transformers on the back cover one year. It definitely was my favorite catalog. I suppose Sears was the other big one.

[cheeriosinabowl]

I used to sit on the toilet late at night when all was quiet, and browse through those catalogues from CD.

There was lots to choose from, variety galore. Almost as good as Eaton's or Simpson's catalogues. Ah, the memories of those days .....  sigh.

[jsnhrv]

I have one from '79-80 in great condtion.All the cool star wars toys in there.

[shohmyoh]

Consumers Distributing was the shit back in the day. I used to always look at the toy section of the magazine when I was a kid.

[cd72]

Yes, here in Winnipeg Manitoba, we had a COnsumer's Distributor's on Henderson Highway. I remember seeing the displays for the Incredible Hulk, the Bionic Woman and Six Million Dollar man...I remember being there with my parents and looking thru the Catalogue...

back in the 1970's

[Love4SK]

found a whole whack of these catalogues at my moms house, was going through them a few nights ago, pretty hilarious.

[Retrontario]

@Love4SK Dude if they are from the 80s and in good condish you could sell them on ebay and retire early!

[Love4SK]

@Retrontario , late 70s/ early 80s. really are they worth anything?? i do imagine most became kindling for the fireplace back in the day.

[Retrontario]

@Love4SK They used to go for silly money on ebay. Like 200 USD +

[junkboxxxxxx]

Yes, I remember the plain white vibrator in there. Shocking. I spent more time ogling the Colecovision page though.

[MattJFisher]

There were two Consumers Distributing stores in St. John's, NL that I went to when I lived there. One was on Kenmount Road next to the Avalon Mall, now Dooly's Billiards. The other is at the Village Shopping Centre. I liked the toys.

[speier]

It would be interesting to know when catalogue shopping truly fizzled out in accordance to when the internet and ebay truly took off

[OofusTwillip]

@speier - It was in-store catalogue shopping, since you had to go into the store, flip through the catalogues there, then fill in an order form, take it to the counter, and a rep would request the items for you. Then, you'd wait while someone in the back warehouse got your items & brought them to the window. However, the service was always horrendously bad, & didn't justify the slightly lower prices.

[maddogmcrae]

They also had a rival store called "Shop Rite".

[BrizzDiggity]

I remember they had one particular item which comes to mind. it was the female personal massager . or a vibrator what ever you call it it was under A.11 good times

[pullincaseoffire]

This store should have been called " sorry thats not in stock " LOL

[keef186]

I hated "shopping" at Consumers. You had to fill out those little cards only to find out they didn't have the Millenium Falcon in stock!

[ranchai100]

I used to love consumers distributing.I bought my 1st LCD watch there in 1974,Everytime I needed a new electronic gadget,thet place is where I'd go.I still dont understand why they closed down.

[maddogmcrae]

@ranchai100 The internet finished them off. However if they were on their toes, the transition to online ordering/pick-up at store should have been easy for them.

[Ripplin]

Used to love the one in Moncton, N.B. It was great at the time, but almost pointless nowadays.

I also remember getting brown paper packages from Sears way back when :)

[RLFLOWS]

I remember going to the one in Antioch, CA. that was in the East County Mall. It closed sometime around 1985-86.

[Love4SK]

remember spending nights at the kitchen table just looking at all the Hot wheels/tyco tracks and hand helds.

[Canadiantalentshines]

There was one in Mayfair Mall in Victoria, B.C.

They had great catalogs.

[johnstevens1978]

That was the most exciting thing ever -- going to that store and waiting to see if the guy would come out from the back with a Star Wars package! The one I went to was on Pembina Highway.

[jnicholl]

Yes, I was always anxious waiting to see if the stuff I wanted was in stock (a lot of times not). Remember filling out the little cards and brining it up to the front. Bought my Nintendo NES from them in the 80's. The good old days.

[Neurozumim]

What should be done is having PDF versions of those catalogs for people to exchange

on the web. I don't need to own the real ones if I can browse them virtually. Someone has to do a DC (DAC) PDF site. It's like, vital and necessary and very important for human civilization. ;-)

[ladyjaye27]

We've been trying to locate old Consumers' Distributing catalogs (ideally in French), but it's like the impossible search: so far, the only one I found was the final catalog (1996) in English.

[Retrontario]

Apparently they are highly sought after collector's items. I had no idea until I saw one (in english) fetch about $75 on ebay. I suppose many people get nostalgic about the oy sections!

[MattJFisher]

@Retrontario They really should be indeed. I found one in my now closed high school (J.S. Woodsworth Secondary School in Nepean, ON) when I was in Grade 9, but this catalogue fell by the wayside.

[mitch19872]

@ladyjaye27 I've got CD catalogs from 1988 to 1996 and yes they are hard to find. I bought mine back then and have searched for more but only found one from 1977. They are very hard to find! Woolco and the Bay catalogs are also hard to find.

[mitch19872]

@mitch19872 sorry should correct myself, I got them back then from the store. Didn't have to pay for them lol.

[csp1977]

Loved to look at the toys. They had everything

[88HJS]

Sadly, Consumers Distributing went bankrupt in 1996.

[OofusTwillip]

It feels like it's been gone a lot longer than that!

[MattJFisher]

Yeah! That was the year the two stores closed in my home of St. John's, NL. The toy sections were nostalgic to me!

[MattJFisher]

I forgot: Before I moved from St. John's 10 years ago, the former Consumers Distributing in the Village Shopping Centre became a Winners. I had also been in the one at Corner Brook Plaza in Corner Brook, some time before it closed.