I've only had two sets ever in "fancy" boxes.
Both are packed away; unseen, or they'd be in a landfill.
Most were L logo printed brown boxes with the set number stamped on the end. I had a couple of totally plain boxes too. Special order sets were still being sent in individual shippers in the early 80s when I drifted from the hobby.
In fact, a fancy store box made me automatically question if it was model or toy quality. It was the last thing I wanted to see back then. (Im much more toy tolerant as an adult. Go figure)
The Sears white boxes I remeber well. They didn' go over well locally. Lionel shipped Sears a pallet of brown box printed with the logo, but one color printing and no stamp area, just to satisfy those who wouldn't buy without a "real" Lionel box. They even had to get a number stamp (they used a grocery store sized stamper, lol) As a kid I thought that was a silly waste of resources watching the "train guy" moving stuff between boxes. I don't feel much different today. I'd rather have a cardboard billboard sheet than a set box
Then again I'm an operator vs a collector, nothing stays in a box and returning them to a box just makes me sad