# 10 Failed Electronics Retailers



## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

http://www.cepro.com/article/10_failed_electronics_retailers?utm_source=CEPWeekly&utm_medium=email


> CE Pro rounds up 10 failed electronics retailers throughout the years
> The economy has certainly done a number on many electronics companies.
> 
> But no struggles have been more documented than those of Circuit City and Tweeter, which both have begun liquidating and closing stores.


More....


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

Ah, the memories. I didn't shop at Federated, but believe it or not I've visited the other nine. I miss Computer City the most, although Incredible Universe was the most fun. They would open any box and install any software to let you try it. You knew _that_ wasn't going to last.


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## tcusta00 (Dec 31, 2007)

The Wiz reminds me of that Seinfeld episode... Nobody beats the Wiz!! :lol:


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## Fontano (Feb 7, 2008)

Highland and SILO should be on that list.

Highland was brutal, because their warranty program wasn't backed by an outside company. So when it went belly up, all those extended warranties were worth nothing.


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## smiddy (Apr 5, 2006)

Where does the finger point really? I get the impression it is a main management issue, but I'm not sold entirely on that, I think the consumer's loyalties are partially to blame due to best bargain hunting. This isn't a bad thing, but at some point where is one's loyalty? Businesses can't rely on that and have to work hard to continue to stretch the best bargain in order to feed the frenzy of consumerdom. I think more stores will pop up and others will go away. I think BestBuy has done a great job of keeping up with consumer wants/needs. The others have way to many issues in order to endure. Just my tar pence mind you, but I think it is pretty real.


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## MIKE0616 (Dec 13, 2006)

Stuart Sweet said:


> Ah, the memories. I didn't shop at Federated, but believe it or not I've visited the other nine. I miss Computer City the most, although Incredible Universe was the most fun. They would open any box and install any software to let you try it. You knew _that_ wasn't going to last.


Did Computer City and IncredUniv really fail or were they just sold by Tandy (RatShack) after they proved they were inept at running them? They were the 2 best on the list IMO and I wish we still had those 2 around.

The strange thing that all of the stores in the list all have in common is that they even existed in the 1st place. Why? They were all run into the ground by some pretty incompetent management who proved they do the reverse "midas touch" (turn gold into lead.)

Oh, well, it seems that we will soon be down to BB as the only "big box" store around and everything else will be on-line or general merchandise stores (think Costco and WallyWorld.)


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

No, they really failed. 

Also don't forget that there is Fry's Electronics, they're still around


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

Costco has certainly come around of late for high-tech gear .. They could always expand. I believe they have a pretty simple business model that's geared towards making a steady profit.


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## 506PIR (Sep 22, 2006)

Stuart Sweet said:


> Ah, the memories. I didn't shop at Federated, but believe it or not I've visited the other nine. I miss Computer City the most, although Incredible Universe was the most fun. They would open any box and install any software to let you try it. You knew _that_ wasn't going to last.


Ah Good ol' Federated. I too have never shopped there but as a youngin' I remember
their commercials coming on when The Three Stooges were on ... On channel 5 in L.a.I've been trying to remember that name. Thanks Stuart for bringing it up. I miss the Good Guys a little bit as I built up a friendship with one of the sales people


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## MikeW (May 16, 2002)

I visited a Tower Records/Good Guys store in Vegas a few years back. Would have expected the place to be much busier than it was. The Good Guys side had more sales reps walking around than customers and Tower had less than 20 people shopping. Seemed like it made business sense to combine the two (at the time), but I guess times change.

Looking at the stock for Sears Holding, and I wonder how much longer they (along with KMart) will be around.


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## dshu82 (Jul 6, 2007)

Being originally from NJ, I remember The Wiz and Crazy Eddies like it was yesterday!


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

Fontano said:


> Highland and SILO should be on that list.
> 
> Highland was brutal, because their warranty program wasn't backed by an outside company. So when it went belly up, all those extended warranties were worth nothing.


Highland Electronics... I didn't realize they got that big. I remember visiting a store in Boston in the late 1980s. It seemed cool at the time. As for Silo, they had a store in San Bernardino but I mostly remember appliances, not home electronics.

Let's not forget Lechmere, for all you New Englanders.


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## dmurphy (Sep 28, 2006)

Crazy Eddie - his prices are INNNNN SAAAAAANNNNNE! How can you beat those commercials?

Does anyone else remember Tops Appliance City?

Also - I bought my first cable modem at Nobody Beats the Wiz ... (after the name change from just plain 'The Wiz'). I paid $349 for a Motorola SURFboard 4100 modem + 1 year of Cablevision's Optimum Online service. I thought that was a steal! And that's roughly what I'm paying for my cable modem services even now, so many years later ... ($29.95/month) ...


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## Cholly (Mar 22, 2004)

Stuart Sweet said:


> No, they really failed.
> 
> Also don't forget that there is Fry's Electronics, they're still around


The former Incredible Universe store in Dallas is currently a Fry's.

Add to the lise: Allied Radio, Concord Radio, Lafayette Radio. They all disappeared quite a while ago. 
On another tack: Here are some TV brands/manufacturers/vendors that are gone: Admiral, Motorola, Capehart, DuMont, Muntz, Wards, Packard Bell, Wells Gardner, Truetone, Stromberg-Carlson, Hallicrafters, Philco, Silvertone.


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

I worked for a "catalog showroom" store in suburban Minneapolis for a while that went out of business. I was in the stereo department (of course) and worked there mainly to get good deals on equipment (and win things in sales contests). I won a bunch of good stuff including a 125cc Italian built Harley Davidson dirt bike, a tonearm for which I had to buy a turntable and cartridge (I still have it an use it), and a bunch of other smaller things. I bought quite a bit on the employee purchase plan. After I was gone for about a year or so (got hired away by a pro audio dealer) the company (LaBelle's) folded. The space that they occupied is now occupied by Best Buy in Wayzata, Minnesota.

I also worked for a while for an outfit called Pickwick International. They owned Musicland at the time and were the world's largest record distributor. The whole corporation was started by a couple of Minnesota brothers (Heilicher Brothers) and sold to American Can. American Can eventually sold this asset the the people who drove it into the ground. I worked for the Pickwick record label in their remastering studios working on records that were released on the label. Pickwick was sort of an early version of KTel, another Minnesota company that hired many Pickwick people.

http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/music/30872664.html


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

The Computer City in Sacramento became a CompUSA. A decade later, it was known as "closed".

The Incredible Universe in Sacramento became a Fry's store. The truck that is used for deliveries still has some of the signage, although most of it is painted over.

The biggest black mark for Circuit City is the Divx media format (not to be confused with the Divx encoding format). Man, what a goose egg that was laid there.


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## Fontano (Feb 7, 2008)

Mark Holtz said:


> The biggest black mark for Circuit City is the Divx media format (not to be confused with the Divx encoding format). Man, what a goose egg that was laid there.


That was actually the time I pretty much decided to not shop at CC anymore.
Over the 10 years, I did break that rule a very few times.
Usually be cause they had an absolutely crazy good price on an item or two.


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## MIKE0616 (Dec 13, 2006)

Cholly said:


> The former Incredible Universe store in Dallas is currently a Fry's.
> 
> Add to the lise: *Allied* Radio, Concord Radio,* Lafayette* Radio. They all disappeared quite a while ago.
> On another tack: Here are some TV brands/manufacturers/vendors that are gone: Admiral, Motorola, Capehart, DuMont, Muntz, Wards, Packard Bell, Wells Gardner, Truetone, Stromberg-Carlson, Hallicrafters, Philco, Silvertone.


and who can* forget* Heath Electronics and their HeathKit offerings? 

They were one of the first to offer a PC as a kit, complete with their own "Benton Harbor OS" and the world famous "Benton Harbor Basic" (which was actually one the better interpreter BASICs ever offered.) :lol:

Olsen Electronics was along the line of Lafayette and Allied and had some neat offerings in the stereo and electronics line, although I don't remember them having ham gear. I still have some tower speakers I purchased there back in the 70s and use them in the garage. They are as good as ever, although are not the most efficient ones you have ever seen. Every time I move them, I am reminded that they were "sold by the pound."


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## FHSPSU67 (Jan 12, 2007)

MIKE0616 said:


> and who can* forget* Heath Electronics and their HeathKit offerings?
> 
> They were one of the first to offer a PC as a kit, complete with their own "Benton Harbor OS" and the world famous "Benton Harbor Basic" (which was actually one the better interpreter BASICs ever offered.) :lol:


Hey, I resemble that remark My first PC was an H89 that the S/W was loaded via audio cassette tape. Then came dual 100K floppy drives for $700 - my wife was not real happy with that purchase  
Thanks for the memories!


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## FHSPSU67 (Jan 12, 2007)

Cholly said:


> On another tack: Here are some TV brands/manufacturers/vendors that are gone: Admiral, Motorola, Capehart, DuMont, Muntz, Wards, Packard Bell, Wells Gardner, Truetone, Stromberg-Carlson, HALLLICRAFTER, Philco, Silvertone.


Hallicrafter taught me as a kid that you shouldn't (for business reasons) build a TV that lasts forever, is extremely easy to work on if the highly improbable should happen, and was "simply the best"!


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

This trip down memory lane is making me feel old *and* depressed.


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## STEVEN-H (Jan 19, 2007)

I am old and depressed:hurah:


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## machavez00 (Nov 2, 2006)

Shadoe Stevens as Fred Rated


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## rudeney (May 28, 2007)

Doug Brott said:


> Costco has certainly come around of late for high-tech gear .. They could always expand. I believe they have a pretty simple business model that's geared towards making a steady profit.


I recently read a magazine interview with Costco's CEO. They have a maximum markup (7.5% IIRC). There are some items they don't carry because the manufacturer won't sell to them unless they maintain a certain price level. They get around this with things like PS3's by selling bundles where the total markup falls within their guidelines but keeps the manufacturer happy. I buy as much as I can at Costco because I like their business practices and they way they treat their employees.

Another store that I try to support is Sears. I know that may sound odd, but they are price competitive and generally have knowledgeable salespeople. The main reason, though, is that the few times I've had problems, they were very quick to resolve them. We bought a washing machine there several years ago. About six months out of the warranty, we discovers that it was full of mold. I cleaned it, but it came back within a month. Basically, it was a design flaw (an early top-loading high-efficiency made by Maytag). Anyhow, the store manager helped us with it and gave us a full refund on the purchase to apply to a new washer and then discounted the new one by a significant amount. Treat me right and I'll return and recommend. Treat me wrong and I'll avoid and protest.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

The list neglects Future Shop too. Around here they locked the doors one day and employees as well as customers were taken by surprise.

I've always thought of Sam Goody as a record store.


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## tfederov (Nov 18, 2005)

Fontano said:


> Highland and SILO should be on that list.
> 
> Highland was brutal, because their warranty program wasn't backed by an outside company. So when it went belly up, all those extended warranties were worth nothing.


I remember Highland. I think we bought a VCR from them when I was a kid in Michigan.

There's still a CompUSA here in my area. Killer deals on stuff. IIRC, the last time I was in there you could get a 1GB memory stick for like $15.

Ultimate Electronics.... not on the list but glad to see them gone. They refused to sell a DIRECTV receiver to me because at the time I was in the NRTC and serviced by Pegasus (Pegasux (yes, I'm still bitter)). I took my money across the street to Circuit City and bought me my first 120 hour DIRECTiVo.


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

I don't know if it was just a Minnesota store, but I used to enjoy browsing at the local Software Etc. store. They were in most of the malls in and around the Twin Cities.


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## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

I miss Computer City. The vacant storefront from the Coumputer City that was here in Buffalo is still around. The sign was removed from the building years ago but you can still see the outline. I also miss Silo, our first camcorder came from there along with the 'big' 27" Zenith. Only Tweeter I've ever been to was one in CT back in 2003. It seemed like a higher end Best Buy with a limited selection.

What I think hurt Circuit City was their decision to stop carrying home appliances like washers/dryers, stoves and refrigerators. I don't think it was a huge blow, but it didn't help matters much.


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

Stuart Sweet said:


> Highland Electronics... I didn't realize they got that big.


Highland was in the Chicago market, purchased a Sony 8MM camcorder from them when they first came out.


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## apexmi (Jul 8, 2006)

RAD said:


> Highland was in the Chicago market, purchased a Sony 8MM camcorder from them when they first came out.


I remember Highland & Fretter in the Michigan /Midwest market growing up






Part of the sign from the old Highland Appliance store on Woodward Avenue. For many years, Highland fought ad and price wars with Fretter--which promised five pounds of coffee if they couldn't beat your best deal.


__
https://flic.kr/p/2777411256


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## Jack White (Sep 17, 2002)

Richard King said:


> http://www.cepro.com/article/10_failed_electronics_retailers?utm_source=CEPWeekly&utm_medium=email
> More....


Where's Silo and American Appliance?
Sam Goody isn't an Electronics Retailer from what I remember.


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

American Appliance??? Do you mean American TV and Appliance based in Madison, Wisconsin? If so, I think they are still around.


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## cweave02 (Oct 12, 2007)

Anyone remember Best - the catalog showroom? That was shopping, in the good old days!


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## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

The way things are going, stores like Wal-Mart and Target are, by default, becoming the 'big box' electronics retailers in many locals. We still have a CC here, but I don't shop there anymore. IMO, the local CC employees are unknowledgeable and unmotivated. Even someone I had considered a top employee acts like she doesn't care anymore.

I can put up with a relative lack of expertise, but I cannot tolerate a listless, _'don't give a damn'_ attitude.

To me, attitude is everything.


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## cweave02 (Oct 12, 2007)

Nick said:


> We still have a CC here, but I don't shop there anymore. IMO, the local CC employees are unknowledgeable and unmotivated.


I have not shopped at CC for many years, because of the 'bait and switch' that always happened when I went into the store. I think their commercials about having the same price on the web, in store and in print are not doing them any favors - especially now that the stores which are going out of business are hyping their bargain 'sales' amd the original and some sale prices of items are both higher than the other big and little box electronics retailers.


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## MIKE0616 (Dec 13, 2006)

cweave02 said:


> Anyone remember Best - the catalog showroom? That was shopping, in the good old days!


Yes, it was. Go into showroom, examine and play with a product, and if you liked it, you ordered it. Remember them in Richmond, VA area and it seems like they were in Texas as well. IIRC, they did something with another in that area of "big-box" selling without today's actual "big" box space with Service Merchandise (which was based in Nashville, I think.)


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## cweave02 (Oct 12, 2007)

The one I visited was in Roanoke VA - it was a lot of fun to visit with my parents, and after making your selection, you waited at the front for your goodies to come rolling out on a roller kind of chute from somewhere in the back. 

Of course, this was pre-internet . . .


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## rudeney (May 28, 2007)

MIKE0616 said:


> Yes, it was. Go into showroom, examine and play with a product, and if you liked it, you ordered it. Remember them in Richmond, VA area and it seems like they were in Texas as well. IIRC, they did something with another in that area of "big-box" selling without today's actual "big" box space with Service Merchandise (which was based in Nashville, I think.)


I remember Service Merchandise! A friend of mine was a store manager and he said about 75% of their merchandise was "seconds" - either returned items, refurbs, discontinued, closeouts, etc. That never bothered me and I never had any issues (they were always friendly with returns and exchanges). Their merchandise pickup area was interesting - like an airport baggage claim.


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

Richard King said:


> American Appliance??? Do you mean American TV and Appliance based in Madison, Wisconsin? If so, I think they are still around.


American TV & Appliance ("TV Lenny" has been around for decades, and still has stores in 5 locations in WI, 1 in Rockford, IL, and 1 in Upper Michigan.


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## theninny (Oct 17, 2008)

I remember Computer City! Its were I got my first Macintosh.


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## rudeney (May 28, 2007)

Remember Video Concepts? That was a Tandy store, too. I remember seeing a my first 16:9 aspect TV in there sometime back in the late 80's. I think it was a Pioneer, rear-projection screen that was maybe 45 inches. It had all sorts of stretch, crop and zoom options to make 4:3 "fit". Gee, how far we've come!


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

rudeney said:


> Remember Video Concepts?


Purchased my first big screen set there back on '83, a 45" Mits.


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## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

Many of these retailers were mismanaged, but survived anyway due to their size, number of products, and being local.

That is, until places like Amazon.com and Newegg.com made them mostly irrelevant.

The only brick & mortar store I've shopped in this decade is Fry's. Otherwise, I order online.


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## reber1b (Jun 14, 2007)

This may only apply to Southern California, but I remember Pacific Stereo, Mad Jack's and Lafayette Electronics. I bought a set of Empire speakers from Lafayette in 1968, and they are still going strong, and I still get positive comments about them. I also bought a small "transistor" radio from them the same year. It too is still going strong -- it receives AM/FM/VHF. I still listen to it in the bathroom, and occasionally tune in VHF frequencies to listen to transmissions from pilots and various ground control facilities. There is a slideshow of storefronts of the fialed businesses at:

http://www.cepro.com/slideshow/category/C339


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## kc1ih (May 22, 2004)

I remember a place in the New York area in the late 70’s that had an announcer screaming “What’s the story, Jerry?” in the commercials. This was before Crazy Eddie, I think. May have been more appliances than electronics, though.

Speaking of Crazy Eddie, I seem to remember he was arrested while living in Israel and extradited to the US on Tax Evasion charges, apparently in the later days of his store he was collecting sales tax but not submitting it to the proper authorities, IIRC.


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## xIsamuTM (Jul 8, 2008)

This thread made me think of Precious Roy's (Sifl and Ole) for some reason.


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

cweave02 said:


> Anyone remember Best - the catalog showroom? That was shopping, in the good old days!


Best actually bought the LaBelle's chain that I worked at and mentioned earlier. They used the same catalog for years (I think LaBelles published the catalog for several chains around the country).


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## Cmnore (Sep 22, 2008)

There used to be a Pacific Stereo in Sacramento too. I moved to Boise about 7 years ago. Since then, Ultimate E. and CompUSA have both disappeared. I miss the Good Guys, myself. Bought a TON of great stuff there. Most of it open boxed and/or demo merch.


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

cweave02 said:


> The one I visited was in Roanoke VA - it was a lot of fun to visit with my parents, and after making your selection, you waited at the front for your goodies to come rolling out on a roller kind of chute from somewhere in the back.
> 
> Of course, this was pre-internet . . .


At LaBelle's (and I assume the others) they had a big conveyor belt arrangement that ran through the warehouse and terminated in the area where the customer picked up the goods. Most of the purchases ran the conveyor belt system except for some camera items and all of the audio stuff. They never got into televisions, so I didn't have to worry about that kind of thing. The audio stuff was typically picked from the warehouse by the salesman (sometimes me) who sold the product and delivered to the customer's car by the salesman. The whole store was paid on an hourly basis, except for some of the camera guys and the audio guys, who were on a commission. I actually did fairly well there for a part timer. I did this while I also ran a recording studio and often brought in tapes from the studio to listen to on the store's display speakers. They actually had quite an impressive audio showroom setup, complete with a few fairly high end reel to reel recorders, high end cassette decks and some nice speakers (JBL, Infinity, ESS to name a few).


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## dshu82 (Jul 6, 2007)

Now these are some I missed, so thanks for jogging my memory! Silo, Tops Appliance City in NJ, Service Merchandise and Best. Wow, where have the years gone?


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## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

IIRC, back in the day, Muntz TV actually had local retail appliance stores as authorized 'dealerships'.

As a kid, it seems like I recall a _"Mad Man Muntz"_ shouting at me out of the magic box to come in and buy a new tv. I remember thinking it odd since we already had a tv -- why on earth would we need another one! :shrug:


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

Nick said:


> IIRC, back in the day, Muntz TV actually had local retail appliance stores as authorized 'dealerships'.
> 
> As a kid, it seems like I recall a _"Mad Man Muntz"_ shouting at me out of the magic box to come in and buy a new tv. I remember thinking it odd since we already had a tv -- why on earth would we need another one! :shrug:


There were alot of cool things about Muntz TV, but the significant trivia about Muntz is he supposedly was the first retailer to advertise the screen's diagonal measurement.


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## wxx (Oct 8, 2008)

Anyone recall Tech HiFi?


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

In Minnesota, Shaack Electronics, a family business that grew quickly and went public was competing with the previously mentioned Sound of Music (Best Buy). They grew rapidly and eventually vanished. Another was Team Electronics, a division of Dayton Hudson Department Stores. Team was one of the earlier computer stores in the Twin Cities (an Apple dealer), also carrying some higher end audio. Team also vanished and Dayton Hudson eventually sold off their department stores and became "Target".

An interesting story from days long gone: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1987/08/03/69335/index.htm


> Even the group's *best performer, Circuit City Stores*, whose profits were up 60% on a 43% increase in sales, closed its 15 Lafayette stores in New York City because they were lackluster earners.


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## Cholly (Mar 22, 2004)

wxx said:


> Anyone recall Tech HiFi?


I bought a number of items from Tech HiFi in Johnson City, NY - an Onkyo stereo receiver that I still have, a whole bunch of Atari computer accessories. Tech had good product lines. When the company went belly up, the local manager opened an autosound store called "Tech Autosound". It's still around.

Another chain that disappeared is Rex. I bought a Sansui stereo receiver from them that is now my grandson's.


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## wxx (Oct 8, 2008)

Rex is here in Florida

http://www.rextv.com/Corp/Page1.aspx


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

Rex went through a period of store closings a while back, including the one here in Vero Beach.


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

Richard King said:


> In Minnesota, Shaack Electronics, a family business that grew quickly and went public was competing with the previously mentioned Sound of Music (Best Buy). They grew rapidly and eventually vanished. Another was Team Electronics, a division of Dayton Hudson Department Stores. Team was one of the earlier computer stores in the Twin Cities (an Apple dealer), also carrying some higher end audio. Team also vanished and Dayton Hudson eventually sold off their department stores and became "Target".
> 
> An interesting story from days long gone: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1987/08/03/69335/index.htm


More "olden days recall" and depression setting in.....


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## Mike Bertelson (Jan 24, 2007)

Crazy Eddies....Our prices are insane! :lol:


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## bigshew (Feb 26, 2007)

wxx said:


> Anyone recall Tech HiFi?


Anyone remember Pacific Stereo? I sort of remember the stores later became Tech HiFi, but my mem could be wrong.


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## kc1ih (May 22, 2004)

Speaking of Lafayette, that brings back some fond memories. The course I took to get my first Ham Radio license was given in the employee lunchroom of their Syossett, NY main store.


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