sales on credit. Although nearly all of the company's retail outlets were sold off by 1954, several catalog shopping centers were retained so that customers could ask questions and place orders in person with company representatives. The following year, Spiegel unveiled its Budget Power Plan, a liberal policy under which customers were offered a line of credit sometimes as high as $1,000, with very low monthly payments. The idea was to add as many names as possible to the Spiegel customer list. The company also widely expanded its range of products offered in the catalogs, including outdoor power equipment such as mowers and tillers, personal watercraft under the name Brooklure, and musical instruments using the Old Kraftsman name. 1960s and 1970s By 1960, sales greater than $200million and nearly two million people held Spiegel credit accounts. In addition, Spiegel began selling pets. In 1965, after a century of operation as a family business, Spiegel was purchased by Beneficial Finance Company. Spiegel stockholders received shares of Beneficial stock, and Spiegel became a wholly owned subsidiary of Beneficial. Spiegel benefited from television exposure and advertising in the form of prizes given away on several game shows, most notably The Hollywood Squares, The Price Is Right, and Let's Make a Deal. Announcers emphasized Spiegel's large catalog offerings in on-air promotional announcements and included Spiegel's Chicago zip code, 60609. Often these programs would award contestants gift certificates of a certain dollar amount toward catalog items, giving winners the flexibility to choose their own prize. During the early 1970s, several charges were leveled against Spiegel by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission regarding some of the company's marketing tactics. In 1971, the FTC accused Spiegel of failing to adequately disclose credit terms in some of its statements and catalog ads. The company also was cited for its handling of credit life insurance policies, as well as for offering free home trials without informing customers that credit approval was required before a product would be shipped. Moreover, in 1974, the FTC charged that Spiegel's debt collection policies treated customers unfairly. Most of the complaints brought by the FTC during this period were settled by changes in company practices, and serious action by the government was generally avoided. Rising interest rates in the mid-1970s made financing credit accounts costly. Also during that time, Spiegel began encountering significant competition from discount stores such as Kmart, which were rapidly establishing