H. J. Wilson Co., also known as Wilson's, was an American

catalog showroom A catalog merchant (catalogue merchant in Commonwealth English) is a form of retailing. The typical merchant sells a wide variety of household and personal products, with many emphasizing jewelry. Unlike a self-serve retail store, most of the i ...

chain based in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

. Founded in 1947 as a jewelry store, it was acquired in 1985 by

Service Merchandise Service Merchandise was a retail chain of catalog showrooms carrying jewelry, toys, sporting goods and electronics. The company, which first began in 1934 as a five-and-dime store, was in existence for 68 years before ceasing operations in 2002 ...

History

The store was begun by Huey John Wilson in 1947 as a jewelry vendor in

. Ten years later, Wilson opened his first catalog showroom. By 1982, Wilson's was the third-largest catalog showroom chain in the United States. At its peak, it had 80 stores in 12 states. In 1985, rival chain

purchased all 80 of the Wilson's stores. Wilson died on February 8, 2008, at age 80.

References

External links

Huey and Angelina Wilson Foundation
Defunct companies based in Louisiana Defunct retail companies of the United States Companies based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana Catalog showrooms Retail companies established in 1947 Retail companies disestablished in 1985 1947 establishments in Louisiana {{Retail-company-stub, date=June 2025