Best Products
Encyclopedia
- For the home electronics chain see: Best BuyBest BuyBest Buy Co., Inc. is an American specialty retailer of consumer electronics in the United States, accounting for 19% of the market. It also operates in Mexico, Canada & China. The company's subsidiaries include Geek Squad, CinemaNow, Magnolia Audio Video, Pacific Sales, and, in Canada operates...
, for the New York department store, see Best & Company.
Best Products (also known simply as BEST) is a defunct chain of American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
catalog showroom retail stores founded by Sydney and Frances Lewis, formerly headquartered in Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
.
History
The company was founded by Sydney LewisSydney Lewis
Sydney Lewis was a prominent Virginia businessman, philanthropist, and art collector.Born in Richmond, Virginia, he was the founder of Best Products Co. . He is the namesake of Lewis Hall at the Washington and Lee University School of Law, whose construction he and his wife, Frances, funded in...
and Frances Lewis. Sydney Lewis, a lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
educated at Washington & Lee and Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...
, worked with his father managing an encyclopedia sales operation in Richmond. Lewis thought of selling additional merchandise along with the bills for encyclopedias. In 1957, the Lewises sent out their first catalog. The first showroom was at 4909 West Marshall Street in Richmond, just across the street from the new Willow Lawn Shopping Center
The Shops at Willow Lawn
The Shops at Willow Lawn is a shopping center located in Richmond, Virginia, USA. It is the first shopping center in the Richmond area. Currently, the center is mostly a strip mall, although a portion of it is enclosed. The center features over 60 stores and several restaurants...
.
The company had a strong sense of promotion and artistic sensibilities; it was legend in artistic circles that it would trade store merchandise for art. As a result, the company, as well as the Lewises, gathered a significant collection of 20th century art. Much of the Lewis Collection can be seen at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
The Virginia Museum of Fine arts, or VMFA, is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, in the United States, which opened in 1936.The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia, while private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the support of specific programs and all...
.
Sculpture in the Environment
In the 1970s, Best Products contracted with James WinesJames Wines
James Wines is an American artist/architect associated with environmental design.Wines is also an architectural and design innovator, a product designer, and an educator...
’ "Sculpture in the Environment
Sculpture in the Environment
Sculpture in the Environment is an architecture and environmental design organisation, founded in 1970, and located in the Wall Street area of New York City...
" (SITE) architecture firm to design nine highly unorthodox retail facilities, notably a tongue-in-cheek structure in Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
with a severely distressed facade. This building purportedly “appeared in more books on 20th century architecture than photographs of any other modern structure”. In Richmond, the company built the Peeling Wall showroom that appeared to have a peeling facade (located on Midlothian Turnpike) as well as a Forest showroom that appeared to have trees growing out of it (located on Quioccasin Road). Photographs of these storefronts appeared in several Best catalogs. As of 2007, some of these distinctive buildings have been converted into conventional buildings by removing the architectural embelishments, or in a few cases, demolished.
Their Parham Road headquarters, built in 1981 and designed by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer, was notable for an American Institute of Architects award and the use of Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
eagles rescued from a New York building. The giant BEST letters of the headquarters could be seen along Interstate 95 at Parham Road. Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer subsequently designed the West Wing of the Virginia Museum, which was funded by the Lewises.
Retail concept
Best employed the "catalog showroom" concept for many of its product offerings. Although some product categories (such as sporting goods and toys) were stocked in traditional self-serve aisles, the majority of products (notably consumer electronics, housewares, and appliances) were featured as unboxed display models. Customers were permitted to examine and experiment with these models, and if found to be desirable, they could be purchased by submitting orders to store personnel. Saleable versions of the merchandise (typically boxed and/or in its original packaging) would then be retrieved from storage and delivered to a customer service area for subsequent purchase.Modern merchandising
As a cost-saving measure, Best jointly published its catalog with Service MerchandiseService Merchandise
Service Merchandise is an online retailer and former retailer chain of catalog showroom stores carrying fine jewelry, toys, sporting goods, and electronics that existed for 68 years...
and Modern Merchandising, and had regional non-compete agreements with those chains.
In 1982, Best acquired Basco and Modern Merchandising of Minneapolis and the six chains it operated — LaBelle's, Dolgin's, Jafco
Jafco
Jafco Co. is a defunct chain of catalog showroom retail stores founded by Sidney Jaffe in 1957 in Seattle, Washington. Jafco was acquired by Modern Merchandising in 1972, then Best Products acquired all 17 stores in Washington and Oregon in 1982. By 1986 all the Jafco stores were converted to...
, Miller Sales, Rogers and Great Western
Great Western
Great Western can refer to:* The Great Western Railway, a United Kingdom railway company nationalised in 1948 and that has since lent its name to:** Great Western Main Line, a principal passenger and freight rail route...
.
In 1985 Best Products was named the most efficient corporation in the United States by the Fortune 500 group. This was following the streamlining of Modern Merchandising into the Best Products family. The conversion was a move that analysts said would take as long as five years. Best completed the project in nine months.
Bankruptcy
Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code
Chapter 11 is a chapter of the United States Bankruptcy Code, which permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is available to every business, whether organized as a corporation or sole proprietorship, and to individuals, although it is most...
bankruptcy protection. The first bankruptcy period began in January 1991 and lasted through June 16, 1994. The second and final filing was made on September 24, 1996. At the time of the second filing, Best operated 169 Best stores and 11 Best Jewelry stores in 23 states, and a nation-wide mail-order service. Some analysts believe that the catalog itself was the downfall of Best and other catalog-showroom retailers because it constrained stores’ product lines and prices for each catalog’s shelf life, sometimes up to 18 months, while competitors were free to adapt to market conditions. Many also believe that the company's bad management was its downfall.
Best Products was traded on the NASDAQ
NASDAQ
The NASDAQ Stock Market, also known as the NASDAQ, is an American stock exchange. "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations". It is the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange. As of...
exchange as “BESTQ.” It was de-listed on November 29, 1996. Best did not appeal the NASDAQ decision. By May 1997, Best had liquidated most of its assets and was declared insolvent
Insolvency
Insolvency means the inability to pay one's debts as they fall due. Usually used to refer to a business, insolvency refers to the inability of a company to pay off its debts.Business insolvency is defined in two different ways:...
. Best vacated its corporate headquarters in Richmond in January 1998 and mailed out final checks to unsecured creditors the following December (paying 96 cents per dollar owed).
External links
- Official project webpage on SITE's website
- Best cuts catalog to redirect marketing dollars
- Best centralizes, and admits it should have done so in 1982
- Bye-bye, Best Products: An Architecture Fairy Tale
- Metropolis Magazine's article about the showrooms of Best Products
- Former Best Products store converted to KIII TV studios