The town I grew up in had a Consumers Distributing in the mall. The catalogue was the main thing. It was like Sears, but also kind of old-school Sharper Image. The store itself was tiny but the stuff they sold was amazing(ly expensive).

I haven’t thought of it in a long time – it’s reached “Only Canadians over 40 know these brands…” Facebook meme status.

Then someone shared this article about it. It blew my mind:

[CEO] Stupp made headlines for the wrong reasons when, along with two others, he was arrested in January 1979 and charged with conspiring to manipulate the market price of Consumers shares. A rapid rise in Consumers stock prices over the course of 1978, along with transfers of stock that also involved property in Florida, sparked a joint investigation carried out by Metro Toronto Police, the Toronto Stock Exchange, and the Ontario Securities Commission. Despite the charges, Consumers management kept faith in Stupp and he continued to run the company.

The story gets wilder. It reads like a B-plot from a lesser season of Billions. Great stuff.