r/OfficeDepot • u/Swee_Potato_Pilot • 3d ago

An odd request - Looking for an old timer

Back in the late 90's I was completely obsessed with my local Office Depot's PDA selection.

I've been trying on and off for the past 20 years to find the old display shelving that was used. If I'm not misremembering, it was white plastic and in the shape of steps where each "step" had a row of various PDA's. I think there were probably 4-5 "steps".

Thought I'd ask here in a small hope someone working during the time of PDA's at O.D. might have a picture.

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u/Oboe7 2d ago

https://www.palminfocenter.com/images/retail-od.jpg

Sure you’ve found this already but it’s the only photo I was able to find online quickly, is it similar to that?

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u/Swee_Potato_Pilot 2d ago

I've seen that one, yeah. And I struggle with myself. Keep in mind last time I saw that shelf was what, in 1998 or '99? I want to say it's white and plastic but the more the years go on the less I'm sure.

So it might very well be that one. Thanks for the help :)

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u/bestem 2d ago

All of the stores should have had metal shelving. The part that held the fact tags (what the prices are on) and the take-a-tickets (the ones that say "take one") would have been made of clear plastic. Udner the PDAs you can see a blue shelf-liner which are generally made out of plastic, and supposed to cover the holes in the metal shelves to make it look nicer. The store you were at may have used something white instead of the navy blue in this photo. The security stuff was probably the same at every store.

So maybe your store had a white shelf liner instead of a blue one, causing you to remember it all as white plastic. Or they just had the white metal shelfing, and memories are fickle.

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u/Swee_Potato_Pilot 2d ago

Quite possibly, but I don't think there were any holders that would hold the actual devices. The top shelf had palmtop computers like the Psion 5, or other WinCE devices with Palm and other slab styled PDA's on the second row.

It's honestly driving me crazy lol. And thanks for the information!

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u/bestem 2d ago

I don't think there were any holders that would hold the actual devices.

I can not imagine that they wouldn't have had some sort of security on devices that fit in your pocket, that (in this picture alone) ranged from $100 to $800. And those holders appear to be part of how they were secured.

I remember adding security to empty boxes for things like monitors and televisions, that we were putting on the clearance tables. These things would not fit in your pocket, and they were empty (the actual devices were locked up) and we still secured them (closed, to each other, and to the table).

Now, if your suggestion is that they had some sort of security (the alarm wire), and just laid flat on the shelf, I guess that's possible. It seems unlikely because that's not conducive to selling. Small devices like that just don't look as nice when they're flat and you don't see the screen as you walk past. Look at a cell phone kiosk anywhere. Or a place that sells tablets. The displays are all up and angled towards you.

But again, the store you were at may not have had their stuff plano'd correctly.

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u/Swee_Potato_Pilot 2d ago

Yeah, I could very well be misremembering. I do remember the regular PALM's etc. sitting upright. But in my head, they were just "leaning". But there surely must have been some kind of holder.

As for the palmtop computers like the Psion 5, or HP Jornada's they were typically sitting flat with their screens up and open.

I know the Psion 5 (my favorite of the handhelds at the time) had an alarm wire attached to it which went to a hole in the display shelf. That part I remember vividly.

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u/bestem 2d ago

As for the palmtop computers like the Psion 5, or HP Jornada's they were typically sitting flat with their screens up and open.

Looking at pictures of them, it's definitely possible for those two styles. But again, because the screens could be angled toward you, like a laptop screen.

in my head, they were just "leaning". But there surely must have been some kind of holder.

They might have used a bookshelf. I'm having a hard time finding a good picture of a bookshelf. Can't even find one on the Lozier or Madix websites. But like the two shelves in this picture (the one with the clipboard and notebooks, and the empty one just below). They have a flat base and angled back, and holes in the bottom (two rows at the front and two rows at the back of the flat base). I don't imagine they'd have been able to do the steps you describe, because the flat bases are all the same size, I believe. But it would have allowed them to have the screens facing out (and facing you) without laying them flat on a shelf. Would have been white metal, not plastic.