I really wish I could have seen this particular neon sign in operation, since it's a different style, with very 80s-looking lettering, than any others I saw at London Drugs! But sadly, they really aren't bothering with maintenance on this signage anymore. Anyway, many London Drugs stores have a separate room dedicated to the computers department (which is separate from the general electronics section -- quite impressive for a drugstore! -- but I'm not sure where exactly they drew the distinction, since this sign indicates that some other electronics products were located in that room too. Some of the stores I visited still have the separate computer room operating as originally intended, but this one was using it for assorted home decor products instead. The aisle I took the photo from, meanwhile, had a fairly impressive selection of small appliances, more than what even a lot of department stores and hypermarkets have these days!
This sign might be old enough that computers were considered to be 'business machines' like copiers and fax machines. That certainly would have been the sentiment in the 1980s. I'm guessing this area of the store had separate salesmen, possibly on commission, who specialized in knowledge of computers and software for a business setting. Of course, they happily would have sold computers to individuals wanting to use them at home, of course. A lot of people were buying their first computers at this time so people needed a lot of advice and, of course, computers were expensive back then.
ReplyDeleteSears used to have standalone 'Business Systems' stores which sold computers, copiers, and so forth. here is one of those stores on video from 1984: https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1158274/m1/
How would you like that $4,625 AT&T IBM Compatible PC? Monitor extra, of course!
The design may well be that old, but this store wasn't built until the mid-90s (as far as I can tell), when personal computers were much more common!
DeleteWow, Sears really did seem to try to get into practically every segment of the market back in the day!