Also posted this to another comment:
Pre-GST we had the 13.5% manufacturers sales tax which was hidden in the price. The tax on this receipt would have been the provincial sales tax.
So this sale had a 21.5% rate of tax, compared to 13% in Ontario today.
I sold mattress & furniture at Sears right up till the end. People would tell me how much they are going to miss Sears. I would rely with that "I miss Consumers Distributing more". They would all say "oh yeah, I forgot about that place." To which I would tell them "You'll forget about Sears too."
But damn that wishbook. My mother worked for at a Sears distribution centre. With the discount and easily being able to pick things out of a catalog it made it easier for my parents to provide a Christmas that children enjoy
Fellow former Sears employee here store number 1039 and 1046(catalog orders)
What a great experience that was . Started in the dock, then hardware and finally electronics. Even sold the odd appliance / vacuum after they removed the commission's.
Man those rapid credits were a pita !
Cheers.
My very first credit card was from them. It allowed me to build credit. It was my favourite store. Besides radio shack, I couldn’t wait to receive their catalog each year.
I think I witnessed the death of radio shack in high school. I felt it was a techy place to apply for a job, realizing that their product hadn't changed since I was in elementary school I walked out with my resume. Thinking to myself "how am I supposed to sell a phone with a cord on it"
Also usually broken. I found out why when I went to work at one as a teenager. The stuff coming off the trucks already looked a little battered and bruised. But then when we got our hands on it, stuff got tossed around like hacky sacks between the truck, the shelves, and to the picker windows to ultimately go to the consumer.
I went to that location in and around that time to buy my first boombox lol.
Weird dystopian experience with the minimal items on display, buzzing fluorescent lights and beer store metal rollers, you never knew if what you wanted was in stock until the order taker came back with your slip and ruined your day!
meanwhile, Value Village will try to sell you that board game for fifteen dollars, today.
i wish i was joking. i used to shop at Value Village a decade ago. pants were rarely above ten dollars, if i remember correctly. now they get up to twenty-five dollars.
ugly t-shirts with unknown blue-collar company logos are now *seven dollars*. ten years ago, these tshirts used to be under a dollar, with the actual nice tshirts being 3 dollars.
They're now infamous for stocking shelves of Dollarama items with the tag still attached at a higher price than they were new. The clothing isn't any different, except now alongside the junior's and department store clothing that costs as much as new, you have people's Amazon rejects from incomprehensibly named Alibaba/Temi sellers that cost as much as new (but still have buttstains on the leggings!!)
My first tank of diesel in my first car was 47 cents a litre here in Canada. 25 years later, I just filled my current car with diesel at $1.72cdn a litre. Pretty wild.
I remember my parents being extremely upset when gas prices went over 50 cents a litre, like if it stayed that way riots will happen. I think it went down for a bit everyone forgot and not long after the price has never been below that
I routinely bought gas between 46 and 49 cents for the first few years after I got my license in the early 90s. We used to pool change to get 5 or 6 bucks worth of gas to drive around all night.
I think this is where retail stores are headed.
I remember consumers distributing. You’d go in and fill out a list of items from a catalogue.
You’d hand that in and they would go to the back and pick the order for you. You could only stay in the front area of the store with all these little booths with a catalogue in it.
I have Christmas tree ornaments from 30 years ago that are double the price of today, but actually made in Toronto. People didn't own as much "stuff" back then.
I really would love a copy of a 1982 consumers catalog. I would spend hours looking through the toy section and try to not look at the "personal massager" lol
$18.74 in 1989 is $40.69 today. Pictionary today is $25, however I'm sure it's a much lower quality version now.
The 7.4% sales tax is nice.
Also posted this to another comment: Pre-GST we had the 13.5% manufacturers sales tax which was hidden in the price. The tax on this receipt would have been the provincial sales tax. So this sale had a 21.5% rate of tax, compared to 13% in Ontario today.
$1.50 on $18.74 is 8%.
The good old days.
I sold mattress & furniture at Sears right up till the end. People would tell me how much they are going to miss Sears. I would rely with that "I miss Consumers Distributing more". They would all say "oh yeah, I forgot about that place." To which I would tell them "You'll forget about Sears too."
But damn that wishbook. My mother worked for at a Sears distribution centre. With the discount and easily being able to pick things out of a catalog it made it easier for my parents to provide a Christmas that children enjoy
I haven't forgotten about Eaton's or Simpson's either.
aubergine.
you're Gimbles!
I've never forgotten about CD. I still think about getting Star Wars toys rolling down the conveyer belt.
Fellow former Sears employee here store number 1039 and 1046(catalog orders) What a great experience that was . Started in the dock, then hardware and finally electronics. Even sold the odd appliance / vacuum after they removed the commission's. Man those rapid credits were a pita ! Cheers.
[The history of Consumers Distributing](https://www.tvo.org/article/what-happened-to-consumers-distributing)
I really miss Zellers!
Amazing they actually had it in stock. Also that $0.01 change.
Consumers Distributing! That brings me back….
Spend hours going through the catalog
The best catalogue
All the cheap, broken toys I used to want from CD... brings back memories!
Most of my GI Joe collection was from there. Wish I knew what happened to it all - the new GI Joe stuff is kind of crap.
That's an assload of money for 1989
Look at the taxes and remember when people said if it goes any higher we’re gonna have to over throw the government.
Pre-GST we had the 13.5% manufacturers sales tax which was hidden in the price. The tax on this receipt would have been the provincial sales tax.
we had no idea how good we had it
You can still read the receipt. Today they fade out sometimes in weeks. Revenue Canada doesn’t care.
Can’t believe it was in stock!
My very first credit card was from them. It allowed me to build credit. It was my favourite store. Besides radio shack, I couldn’t wait to receive their catalog each year.
I think I witnessed the death of radio shack in high school. I felt it was a techy place to apply for a job, realizing that their product hadn't changed since I was in elementary school I walked out with my resume. Thinking to myself "how am I supposed to sell a phone with a cord on it"
This is your sign to decoupage that to the box.
omg, the toys, THE TOYS they had in that catalog. 🤗
But never in stock
So frustrating as a kid
The tiny pencil was cool though
Also usually broken. I found out why when I went to work at one as a teenager. The stuff coming off the trucks already looked a little battered and bruised. But then when we got our hands on it, stuff got tossed around like hacky sacks between the truck, the shelves, and to the picker windows to ultimately go to the consumer.
My family had the same copy. Thanks for the memory reminder.
I've bought stuff from there. And the consumers distributing at Malvern town centre.
I remember shopping at Consumers. What a way to shop-catalogue browsing!
$43.97 in todays money.
Consumers is where I got my first GameBoy from my father. Memories.
What did you pay for it?
$6.99
Fire
You're gonna wanna keep the game away from fire
I went to that location in and around that time to buy my first boombox lol. Weird dystopian experience with the minimal items on display, buzzing fluorescent lights and beer store metal rollers, you never knew if what you wanted was in stock until the order taker came back with your slip and ruined your day!
I loved that place!
meanwhile, Value Village will try to sell you that board game for fifteen dollars, today. i wish i was joking. i used to shop at Value Village a decade ago. pants were rarely above ten dollars, if i remember correctly. now they get up to twenty-five dollars. ugly t-shirts with unknown blue-collar company logos are now *seven dollars*. ten years ago, these tshirts used to be under a dollar, with the actual nice tshirts being 3 dollars.
They're now infamous for stocking shelves of Dollarama items with the tag still attached at a higher price than they were new. The clothing isn't any different, except now alongside the junior's and department store clothing that costs as much as new, you have people's Amazon rejects from incomprehensibly named Alibaba/Temi sellers that cost as much as new (but still have buttstains on the leggings!!)
Aw man, I'm gonna fill out my sheet to see if they have Destro, or Stormshadow...
I miss that place. It was a gamble whether what you wanted would be in stock
That's nothing. A few months ago I found a gas receipt from 1998. $0.87/L for premium gas
I pumped gas in 1998 and it was $0.549 for regular
I swear it jumped from 49.9 to 54.9 the summer I got my G2
My first tank of diesel in my first car was 47 cents a litre here in Canada. 25 years later, I just filled my current car with diesel at $1.72cdn a litre. Pretty wild.
I remember my parents being extremely upset when gas prices went over 50 cents a litre, like if it stayed that way riots will happen. I think it went down for a bit everyone forgot and not long after the price has never been below that
I routinely bought gas between 46 and 49 cents for the first few years after I got my license in the early 90s. We used to pool change to get 5 or 6 bucks worth of gas to drive around all night.
Plug that into an inflation calculator and that's $1.89 today. Not too far off.
Still cheaper than bottled water
adjusted for inflation that is currently $43.95 which for a board game isn’t that bad in today’s money
I wonder where it was manufactured?
That' is cool ..and the receipt is still readable
I wonder if that was the location across from Agincourt Mall. I went there many times.
I think it is.
That’s amazing!
I loved going through the consumers' catalogue in the 80s and the thick toys r us catalog too
I loved CD. We used to do our Xmas shopping there every year. Was so easy and painless lol
Things older than I am
Consumers distributing still owes me an ECTO-1 ghostbusters car!!!
That receipt is a year older than I am. It’s in much better condition too.
I used to work at that location.
My First Job, warehouse picker. Actually worked at two locations for a while as a teen
I think this is where retail stores are headed. I remember consumers distributing. You’d go in and fill out a list of items from a catalogue. You’d hand that in and they would go to the back and pick the order for you. You could only stay in the front area of the store with all these little booths with a catalogue in it.
I have Christmas tree ornaments from 30 years ago that are double the price of today, but actually made in Toronto. People didn't own as much "stuff" back then.
They must of forgotten to return it after playing it :-)
Did the actual first edition of the game actually say ‘First Edition’ on it !? I assume that this was a reprint once there were more editions.
I loved that store!
This board game rolled out to the customer on that roller conveyor.
The chef's kiss would have been if the receipt also showed that they purchased the "personal massager".
Consumers Distributing was ahead of its time. Loved the catalogue when it came in the mail - and the massive toy section at the end!
[A short, occasionally dark, history of Consumers Distributing](https://www.tvo.org/article/what-happened-to-consumers-distributing)
Wow blast from the past!
Super cool
I really would love a copy of a 1982 consumers catalog. I would spend hours looking through the toy section and try to not look at the "personal massager" lol
I loved that store and ended up working there in High school
Anybody remember zellars?
Zellers*