His prices are insaaaaaannne!
October 26, 2016 11:23 AM Subscribe
The colorful rise and fall of "Crazy Eddie" Antar, who built an New York City electronics store empire and then ended up in prison. (Bonus: more Crazy Eddie at the New Yorker).
My favorite iteration of this concept
posted by sandking at 11:30 AM on October 26, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by sandking at 11:30 AM on October 26, 2016 [3 favorites]
The "Crazy Eddie credit line story" has since been a staple of accounting classes for years. When you'd buy a TV, for example, they'd bring it out of the stockroom with no packaging, just the TV and accessories. The cartons would sit in the warehouse, where this bogus inventory would be used as collateral for their bank line. Millions of dollars of loans were backed by nearly worthless cardboard until the banks caught on.
posted by dr_dank at 11:36 AM on October 26, 2016 [13 favorites]
posted by dr_dank at 11:36 AM on October 26, 2016 [13 favorites]
"We are not undersold, we will not be undersold, we cannot be undersold. And we mean it!"
I hope Jerry Carroll managed to cash out before the collapse, because those commercials are permanently embedded in my brain, 30 years later.
posted by madajb at 11:47 AM on October 26, 2016 [4 favorites]
I hope Jerry Carroll managed to cash out before the collapse, because those commercials are permanently embedded in my brain, 30 years later.
posted by madajb at 11:47 AM on October 26, 2016 [4 favorites]
When I was living in NYC in the '80s I can't remember a single person, including me, who ever bought a thing from Crazy Eddie. It was always The Wiz, J&R Music World or 47th St. Photo.
Bonus: Anybody remember this guy?
posted by lagomorphius at 11:48 AM on October 26, 2016 [4 favorites]
Bonus: Anybody remember this guy?
posted by lagomorphius at 11:48 AM on October 26, 2016 [4 favorites]
... those commercials are permanently embedded in my brain, 30 years later.
SIXFOURFIVEELEVENNINETYSIX!
SIXFOURFIVEELEVENNINETYSIX!
SIXFOURFIVEELEVENNINETYSIX!
posted by ZenMasterThis at 11:49 AM on October 26, 2016
SIXFOURFIVEELEVENNINETYSIX!
SIXFOURFIVEELEVENNINETYSIX!
SIXFOURFIVEELEVENNINETYSIX!
posted by ZenMasterThis at 11:49 AM on October 26, 2016
It was always The Wiz, J&R Music World or 47th St. Photo.
... or Uncle Steve on Canal Street: "I looove yaaaa!"
(kids these days have no clue what it was like growing-up listening to cool AOR FM stations like WNEW 8 hours a day)
posted by ZenMasterThis at 11:52 AM on October 26, 2016 [10 favorites]
... or Uncle Steve on Canal Street: "I looove yaaaa!"
(kids these days have no clue what it was like growing-up listening to cool AOR FM stations like WNEW 8 hours a day)
posted by ZenMasterThis at 11:52 AM on October 26, 2016 [10 favorites]
We knew a guy who worked at the Kings Highway store in Brooklyn who was known as "Crazy Rob" and he must've walked off with six figures worth of stuff over the years...
posted by AJaffe at 11:54 AM on October 26, 2016
posted by AJaffe at 11:54 AM on October 26, 2016
I bought my first stereo and my first CD at Crazy Eddie's on Route 17 in Paramus in, uh, 1986ish?
posted by workerant at 12:13 PM on October 26, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by workerant at 12:13 PM on October 26, 2016 [3 favorites]
> It was always The Wiz, J&R Music World or 47th St. Photo.
... or Uncle Steve on Canal Street: "I looove yaaaa!"
Wow, the memories come flooding back. I miss '80s New York!
posted by languagehat at 12:20 PM on October 26, 2016 [3 favorites]
... or Uncle Steve on Canal Street: "I looove yaaaa!"
Wow, the memories come flooding back. I miss '80s New York!
posted by languagehat at 12:20 PM on October 26, 2016 [3 favorites]
His cousin Sam E. Antar, the CFO, went the Frank Abagnale route and teaches law enforcement and professionals how to catch the crooks.
posted by djb at 12:25 PM on October 26, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by djb at 12:25 PM on October 26, 2016 [2 favorites]
I hope Jerry Carroll managed to cash out before the collapse
So, after living in NY all through the late 80's and early 90's, and making approximately 7 million jokes about those ads, TIL that the guy in the ads wasn't Crazy Eddie.
Is there some German word for the feeling you get when one of your life-long assumptions is proved wrong, but it really doesn't change that much?
posted by lumpenprole at 12:28 PM on October 26, 2016 [6 favorites]
So, after living in NY all through the late 80's and early 90's, and making approximately 7 million jokes about those ads, TIL that the guy in the ads wasn't Crazy Eddie.
Is there some German word for the feeling you get when one of your life-long assumptions is proved wrong, but it really doesn't change that much?
posted by lumpenprole at 12:28 PM on October 26, 2016 [6 favorites]
I confess I so hated his commercials, which could not readily be avoided in the old days when they aired, that not having to see them again was one of the reasons I was glad I'd left NYC. Not terribly surprised he went down for fraud, but I kinda wish they could have added a count for Being Irritating in the First Degree.
posted by bearwife at 12:51 PM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by bearwife at 12:51 PM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
Bonus: Anybody remember this guy?
Stereo store on a shelf! Desktop Publishing Breakthrough! $20,000 Challenge!
posted by madajb at 12:51 PM on October 26, 2016 [5 favorites]
Stereo store on a shelf! Desktop Publishing Breakthrough! $20,000 Challenge!
posted by madajb at 12:51 PM on October 26, 2016 [5 favorites]
Q: Why can't you use the bathroom at Newmark & Lewis?
A: Because Dick Lewis is watching.
posted by dr_dank at 1:13 PM on October 26, 2016 [3 favorites]
A: Because Dick Lewis is watching.
posted by dr_dank at 1:13 PM on October 26, 2016 [3 favorites]
Huh, I finally get Futurama's "Malfunctioning Eddie" character.
posted by indubitable at 1:14 PM on October 26, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by indubitable at 1:14 PM on October 26, 2016 [6 favorites]
Man, I forgot about The Wiz!
posted by grumpybear69 at 1:17 PM on October 26, 2016
posted by grumpybear69 at 1:17 PM on October 26, 2016
NOBODY beats The Wiz.
posted by Chrysostom at 1:35 PM on October 26, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 1:35 PM on October 26, 2016 [5 favorites]
There used to be a Crazy Eddie's Records and Tapes Asylum on Main Street in Flushing Queens. I remember buying the first Black Flag album there right after taking the Kaplan SAT prep course. Good times!
posted by cazoo at 2:12 PM on October 26, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by cazoo at 2:12 PM on October 26, 2016 [6 favorites]
I got a free Crazy Eddie wallet at one of their grand openings and then lost it a month later....at Crazy Eddies.
posted by jonmc at 2:19 PM on October 26, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by jonmc at 2:19 PM on October 26, 2016 [3 favorites]
The thing that freaked me out is how different he looked IRL vs in the commercials and in character.
Also, the commercials you see as a kid can really warp your brain.
posted by jbenben at 2:30 PM on October 26, 2016 [2 favorites]
Also, the commercials you see as a kid can really warp your brain.
posted by jbenben at 2:30 PM on October 26, 2016 [2 favorites]
We buy retail, sell wholesale and make up the difference on the volume!!!
posted by jim in austin at 2:36 PM on October 26, 2016
posted by jim in austin at 2:36 PM on October 26, 2016
jbenben, the New Yorker article linked above explains why he looked different IRL vs. in character.
posted by emelenjr at 2:49 PM on October 26, 2016
posted by emelenjr at 2:49 PM on October 26, 2016
"What's the story, Jerry?"
"The story is you go to JGE with your union or your civil service card, and you're in. Because JGE is only open to union or civil service members. It's not open to the general public."
"So that's the story Jerry?"
"That's the stooooreeeeee!"
::raise arms, show belly::
posted by Splunge at 2:51 PM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
"The story is you go to JGE with your union or your civil service card, and you're in. Because JGE is only open to union or civil service members. It's not open to the general public."
"So that's the story Jerry?"
"That's the stooooreeeeee!"
::raise arms, show belly::
posted by Splunge at 2:51 PM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
Just… so many memories of Brooklyn in the 80s.
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 4:27 PM on October 26, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 4:27 PM on October 26, 2016 [2 favorites]
All you need now is a Qiana shirt, bell-bottom pants and a serious addiction to cocaine. Oh and that pastel jacket with the sleeves rolled up. Wait. I may be mixing up the eras. That's probably the LSD from the early 70s talking...
posted by Splunge at 4:36 PM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Splunge at 4:36 PM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
The story was OK but the ending was on the nose.
Eddie was born in Brooklyn; his grandparents had moved there from Syria, but that makes him as native as any other American. Calling him "a bizarre combination of Old World and New World" and referring to "the hard-bargaining techniques of the Middle Eastern souks" sounds like a classic antisemitic dog-whistle.
You know who else has a reputation for hard bargaining? Basically every ethnic group. When the Waltons screw their workers and suppliers we don't refer to their ethnic background; the same courtesy should apply to Jews of Syrian descent.
posted by Joe in Australia at 4:43 PM on October 26, 2016 [8 favorites]
Eddie was born in Brooklyn; his grandparents had moved there from Syria, but that makes him as native as any other American. Calling him "a bizarre combination of Old World and New World" and referring to "the hard-bargaining techniques of the Middle Eastern souks" sounds like a classic antisemitic dog-whistle.
You know who else has a reputation for hard bargaining? Basically every ethnic group. When the Waltons screw their workers and suppliers we don't refer to their ethnic background; the same courtesy should apply to Jews of Syrian descent.
posted by Joe in Australia at 4:43 PM on October 26, 2016 [8 favorites]
On Rachel Maddow's Monday show they figured out a Goldbergian series of connections as an excuse to play Crazy Eddie commercials as part of the program, the connection to contemporary politics being: one of Eddie Antar's lawyers was a man named John Barry, who also defended the Republican National Committee in a 1981 case where, in the New Jersey governor's race, a "National Ballot Security Task Force" appeared out of nowhere on election day, "some of them off-duty policemen wearing guns and arm bands", and coincidentally focused on minority precincts.
The Republican candidate won by a sliver, but as a result of a lawsuit the RNC has been bound by a consent decree since then against doing any sort of voter intimidation or poll-watching shenanigans against minorities. The consent decree is set to expire in 2017, but if violated will be automatically extended another eight years.
John Barry, lawyer for Crazy Eddie and the RNC in the 80s, has passed away; but he was married to Trump's older sister. So Trump is now explicitly telling his followers to do the same kinds of things, in the same kinds of places, which his brother-in-law tried to defend the RNC for doing 35 years ago.
posted by XMLicious at 4:53 PM on October 26, 2016 [7 favorites]
The Republican candidate won by a sliver, but as a result of a lawsuit the RNC has been bound by a consent decree since then against doing any sort of voter intimidation or poll-watching shenanigans against minorities. The consent decree is set to expire in 2017, but if violated will be automatically extended another eight years.
John Barry, lawyer for Crazy Eddie and the RNC in the 80s, has passed away; but he was married to Trump's older sister. So Trump is now explicitly telling his followers to do the same kinds of things, in the same kinds of places, which his brother-in-law tried to defend the RNC for doing 35 years ago.
posted by XMLicious at 4:53 PM on October 26, 2016 [7 favorites]
Add me to the list of people who grew up during that didn't know the guy in the commercial was not Crazy Eddie. I am stunned. Thanks for this!
posted by kimberussell at 5:22 PM on October 26, 2016
posted by kimberussell at 5:22 PM on October 26, 2016
Workerant: Mine was 1985, but still, me too!
The location was, after being Crazy Eddie's, became a Tower Records, and is now a Goodwill store. So basically, it hasn't changed that much.
posted by mephron at 5:52 PM on October 26, 2016
The location was, after being Crazy Eddie's, became a Tower Records, and is now a Goodwill store. So basically, it hasn't changed that much.
posted by mephron at 5:52 PM on October 26, 2016
Thanks to advanced neurological research, the link between psychosis and low prices is better understood today.
posted by dr_dank at 7:05 PM on October 26, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by dr_dank at 7:05 PM on October 26, 2016 [8 favorites]
djb: "His cousin Sam E. Antar, the CFO, went the Frank Abagnale route and teaches law enforcement and professionals how to catch the crooks."
Sam Antar also spoke about Crazy Eddie on the Planet Money podcast.
posted by junques at 11:30 PM on October 26, 2016 [2 favorites]
Sam Antar also spoke about Crazy Eddie on the Planet Money podcast.
posted by junques at 11:30 PM on October 26, 2016 [2 favorites]
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