The catalogue showroom comes to town Available to Purchase

The phenomenal rise of mail order — armchair shopping — has been well documented. More recently, discount trading has made a marked impact on the retail scene in this country. Now we are seeing the emergence of a new form of retailing which is a combination of both — the catalogue showroom, which enables customers to make their initial selection in a catalogue, then visit the ‘showroom’ and buy the merchandise at a considerable discount. One of the few retail innovations to emerge from the United States in recent years, this new form of trading has undergone certain adaptations in its passage across the Atlantic. First we examine the principles of the system, and then take a look at Richard Tompkins' Argos showrooms, recently launched in a highly professional blaze of publicity.