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"Crazy Eddie" Antar, age unavailable, "His prices were INSANE!!!"
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That Derek
Sep 11, 2016, 9:29:05 AM9/11/16
to
The New York City Radio Message Radio Board is reporting the death of Eddie "Crazy Eddie" Antar, known for his NYC stereo/appliance chain "Crazy Eddie's". Most people think that the TV pitchman was THE Crazy Eddie but he was radio personality Jerry Carroll.
http://www.musicradio77.com/wwwboard/messages/430947.html
Posted by Larry Weiss on September 10, 2016 at 23:24:58:
I am sad to report that Eddie Antar, a/k/a Crazy Eddie, passed away this morning. One of the highlights of my life was serving as Crazy Eddie's advertising director. Crazy Eddie was one of the earliest regular advertisers on FM radio, and, in its heyday, the largest volume buyer of radio time in New York. Our work with Crazy Eddie pretty much revolutionized broadcast advertising, as Crazy Eddie pretty much revolutionized the entire retail industry. Eddie was quite a character as anyone working in radio at the time will remember - charming, charismatic, fun, powerful - but also challenging and far from perfect. As we all know, his Wall Street securities fraud, which predated Enron and Madoff, sunk the company, cost thousands their investments and/or their jobs, and landed him in jail. But he enabled me to make broadcast advertising history, and that is how I choose to remember him. R.I.P.
http://www.musicradio77.com/wwwboard/messages/430947.html
Posted by Larry Weiss on September 10, 2016 at 23:24:58:
I am sad to report that Eddie Antar, a/k/a Crazy Eddie, passed away this morning. One of the highlights of my life was serving as Crazy Eddie's advertising director. Crazy Eddie was one of the earliest regular advertisers on FM radio, and, in its heyday, the largest volume buyer of radio time in New York. Our work with Crazy Eddie pretty much revolutionized broadcast advertising, as Crazy Eddie pretty much revolutionized the entire retail industry. Eddie was quite a character as anyone working in radio at the time will remember - charming, charismatic, fun, powerful - but also challenging and far from perfect. As we all know, his Wall Street securities fraud, which predated Enron and Madoff, sunk the company, cost thousands their investments and/or their jobs, and landed him in jail. But he enabled me to make broadcast advertising history, and that is how I choose to remember him. R.I.P.
Michael OConnor
Sep 11, 2016, 9:59:57 AM9/11/16
to
Here's a CNBC story about the fall of Crazy Eddie Antar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_7ntzgTvhs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_7ntzgTvhs
A Friend
Sep 11, 2016, 11:02:09 AM9/11/16
to
In article <f9f3742d-57de-478a...@googlegroups.com>,
In October 2009, Eddie Antar was 61 and said to be suffering from liver
cancer.
http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20091018/REG/310189997/where-are-t
hey-now
cancer.
http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20091018/REG/310189997/where-are-t
hey-now
That Derek
Sep 11, 2016, 11:10:12 AM9/11/16
to
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2016/09/crazy_eddie_antar_whose_insaaanne_retail_chain_col.html
'Crazy Eddie,' electronics chain kingpin with 'insaaane' prices, dead at 68
By Ted Sherman | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on September 11, 2016 at 10:02 AM, updated September 11, 2016 at 10:40 AM
BROOKLYN—He was known as Crazy Eddie.
Eddie Antar, the electronics kingpin who once presided over a retail empire spanning four states, died Saturday, according to a family member. Antar's company was known for its frenetic television advertising of a seemingly crazed pitchman—before it all collapsed like a house of cards in a multi-million-dollar securities fraud.
He was 68. Funeral services are scheduled today in New Jersey.
Antar, who first went into business with his father out of a storefront in Brooklyn, turned Crazy Eddie into the largest electronics chain in the New York metropolitan area.
While headquartered in Edison, it grew to 43 stores in four states, fueled by its aggressive sales tactics and over-the-top late-night TV ads—at a time when manufacturers fought hard to set retail prices.
Indeed, not many knew what Antar looked like. Most mistakenly believed that former New York radio disc jockey Jerry Carroll, whose spastic, over-the-top delivery that promised the lowest "insane prices" anywhere, for everything from VCRs, stereos, televisions and speakers—and became the face of the Crazy Eddie business—was in fact Eddie himself.
But because of those commercials, seemingly everyone in the New York metropolitan area knew Crazy Eddie, a store that some said had greater name recognition than Coca-Cola.
The pitch was simple: Shop around. Get the best prices you can find. Then go to Crazy Eddie and he'll beat it! Crazy Eddie's prices are insaaane.
It was marketing genius; a highly successful hook.
"People still use Crazy Eddie as the gold standard of what a real deal is," Antar said years later. "They say, 'I want a Crazy Eddie-type deal.'"
He was helped in part by the fact that he had almost single-handedly broken the rules of the game that had allowed electronics giants like Sony and Panasonic set the price for their goods.
Early on, Crazy Eddie had found a way around the so-called Fair-Trade laws that prohibited retailers from selling products below suggested retail price.
Crazy Eddie grew into a three hundred million dollar business. It quickly opened 43 stores in four states, and then decided to go for the brass ring—taking the company public in a Wall Street stock offering.
But what no one realized was that despite the sales and stores and commercials that branded Crazy Eddie for a generation, what was going on behind the scenes was a massive scam.
Antar wasn't crazy. He was skimming profits, cheating the IRS and scamming customers, in what was then the biggest retail financial fraud in U.S. history, by adding imaginary stock and falsifying accounts to make it look like sales were surging.
After an outside investor group gained control of Crazy Eddie in late 1987, it all began to fall apart as auditors started going through the books The business filed for bankruptcy, Antar disregarded a court order to return more than fifty million dollars that the Government contended was illegal profits.
In a federal indictment unsealed after he was taken into custody, Antar was and other family members were charged with securities fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud. They were also charged with obstructing justice by destroying and hiding Crazy Eddie's business records. Eddie was also charged by authorities with skimming millions of dollars in cash from the sales of Crazy Eddie stores, using the money to fund an extravagant lifestyle for his family.
"By any measure, this is a staggering securities fraud," declared Michael Chertoff, then the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, who told reporters that the Antars had created "a giant bubble" of a company by creating false inventory reports, as well as forged bills for money it owed and was owed.
Before being eclipsed by the much larger Ponzi scheme of con artist Bernie Madoff, and the accounting scandals at Enron, the shell game at Crazy Eddie was considered one of the largest securities frauds ever uncovered. The Securities and Exchange Commission charged that the company's false financial statements propelled its stock to $79 a share from an initial public offering price of $8 a share.
As the probe by the SEC and U.S. Attorney's Office grew, Eddie Antar fled the country in 1990 and remained a fugitive until his arrest in Israel in June 1992.
He and his brother, Mitchell, were convicted of stock fraud in 1993, but their convictions were overturned in 1995 on a finding of judicial bias. Both subsequently pleaded guilty instead of facing retrial and Eddie Antar went to jail. After he was released, he returned home to Brooklyn and stayed out of the public eye.
Antar is survived by daughters Simone, Nicole, Noelle and Gabrielle; a son Sammy E. Antar; brothers Mitchell and Allen, and a sister, Ellen Kuszer.
In an interview with The Star-Ledger, Antar would say little about the fraud that brought down his empire, but acknowledged his business would not be soon forgotten.
"Everybody knows Crazy Eddie. What can I tell you?" he remarked. "I changed the business. I changed the whole business."
Ted Sherman may be reached at tshe...@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Facebook: @TedSherman.reporter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
'Crazy Eddie,' electronics chain kingpin with 'insaaane' prices, dead at 68
By Ted Sherman | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on September 11, 2016 at 10:02 AM, updated September 11, 2016 at 10:40 AM
BROOKLYN—He was known as Crazy Eddie.
Eddie Antar, the electronics kingpin who once presided over a retail empire spanning four states, died Saturday, according to a family member. Antar's company was known for its frenetic television advertising of a seemingly crazed pitchman—before it all collapsed like a house of cards in a multi-million-dollar securities fraud.
He was 68. Funeral services are scheduled today in New Jersey.
Antar, who first went into business with his father out of a storefront in Brooklyn, turned Crazy Eddie into the largest electronics chain in the New York metropolitan area.
While headquartered in Edison, it grew to 43 stores in four states, fueled by its aggressive sales tactics and over-the-top late-night TV ads—at a time when manufacturers fought hard to set retail prices.
Indeed, not many knew what Antar looked like. Most mistakenly believed that former New York radio disc jockey Jerry Carroll, whose spastic, over-the-top delivery that promised the lowest "insane prices" anywhere, for everything from VCRs, stereos, televisions and speakers—and became the face of the Crazy Eddie business—was in fact Eddie himself.
But because of those commercials, seemingly everyone in the New York metropolitan area knew Crazy Eddie, a store that some said had greater name recognition than Coca-Cola.
The pitch was simple: Shop around. Get the best prices you can find. Then go to Crazy Eddie and he'll beat it! Crazy Eddie's prices are insaaane.
It was marketing genius; a highly successful hook.
"People still use Crazy Eddie as the gold standard of what a real deal is," Antar said years later. "They say, 'I want a Crazy Eddie-type deal.'"
He was helped in part by the fact that he had almost single-handedly broken the rules of the game that had allowed electronics giants like Sony and Panasonic set the price for their goods.
Early on, Crazy Eddie had found a way around the so-called Fair-Trade laws that prohibited retailers from selling products below suggested retail price.
Crazy Eddie grew into a three hundred million dollar business. It quickly opened 43 stores in four states, and then decided to go for the brass ring—taking the company public in a Wall Street stock offering.
But what no one realized was that despite the sales and stores and commercials that branded Crazy Eddie for a generation, what was going on behind the scenes was a massive scam.
Antar wasn't crazy. He was skimming profits, cheating the IRS and scamming customers, in what was then the biggest retail financial fraud in U.S. history, by adding imaginary stock and falsifying accounts to make it look like sales were surging.
After an outside investor group gained control of Crazy Eddie in late 1987, it all began to fall apart as auditors started going through the books The business filed for bankruptcy, Antar disregarded a court order to return more than fifty million dollars that the Government contended was illegal profits.
In a federal indictment unsealed after he was taken into custody, Antar was and other family members were charged with securities fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud. They were also charged with obstructing justice by destroying and hiding Crazy Eddie's business records. Eddie was also charged by authorities with skimming millions of dollars in cash from the sales of Crazy Eddie stores, using the money to fund an extravagant lifestyle for his family.
"By any measure, this is a staggering securities fraud," declared Michael Chertoff, then the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, who told reporters that the Antars had created "a giant bubble" of a company by creating false inventory reports, as well as forged bills for money it owed and was owed.
Before being eclipsed by the much larger Ponzi scheme of con artist Bernie Madoff, and the accounting scandals at Enron, the shell game at Crazy Eddie was considered one of the largest securities frauds ever uncovered. The Securities and Exchange Commission charged that the company's false financial statements propelled its stock to $79 a share from an initial public offering price of $8 a share.
As the probe by the SEC and U.S. Attorney's Office grew, Eddie Antar fled the country in 1990 and remained a fugitive until his arrest in Israel in June 1992.
He and his brother, Mitchell, were convicted of stock fraud in 1993, but their convictions were overturned in 1995 on a finding of judicial bias. Both subsequently pleaded guilty instead of facing retrial and Eddie Antar went to jail. After he was released, he returned home to Brooklyn and stayed out of the public eye.
Antar is survived by daughters Simone, Nicole, Noelle and Gabrielle; a son Sammy E. Antar; brothers Mitchell and Allen, and a sister, Ellen Kuszer.
In an interview with The Star-Ledger, Antar would say little about the fraud that brought down his empire, but acknowledged his business would not be soon forgotten.
"Everybody knows Crazy Eddie. What can I tell you?" he remarked. "I changed the business. I changed the whole business."
Ted Sherman may be reached at tshe...@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Facebook: @TedSherman.reporter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
danny burstein
Sep 11, 2016, 1:02:50 PM9/11/16
to
In <056b0ac9-f43f-4bb8...@googlegroups.com> That Derek <that...@yahoo.com> writes:
>He was helped in part by the fact that he had almost single-handedly broken=
> the rules of the game that had allowed electronics giants like Sony and Pa=
"Show us your union or civil service card and you'll
get in, because JGE is NOT open to everyone, just to
union members and their families".
"So that's the story Jerry?"
"That's the story!"
- he won in court against the "Fair Trade" laws
so could set hiw own prices.
About five years ago (which might be ten or fifteen
or even 20..) new laws and court cases have re-established
lots of manufacturer/dustributer control of end pricing.
http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/whats_the_story_jerry_jge_forget_about_it_tops_appliance_city/
--
_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dan...@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]
>He was helped in part by the fact that he had almost single-handedly broken=
> the rules of the game that had allowed electronics giants like Sony and Pa=
>nasonic set the price for their goods.
Preceeded a decade earlier by Jerry Rosenberg of JGE.
"Show us your union or civil service card and you'll
get in, because JGE is NOT open to everyone, just to
union members and their families".
"So that's the story Jerry?"
"That's the story!"
- he won in court against the "Fair Trade" laws
so could set hiw own prices.
About five years ago (which might be ten or fifteen
or even 20..) new laws and court cases have re-established
lots of manufacturer/dustributer control of end pricing.
http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/whats_the_story_jerry_jge_forget_about_it_tops_appliance_city/
--
_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dan...@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]
MJ Emigh
Sep 11, 2016, 2:19:52 PM9/11/16
to
I've been reading a lot of interesting and personal stories today about Crazy Eddie's. There seem to be a lot of people who feel that they always got a good deal there. There are many who never bought from them and think that Eddie was the worst crook in history. Finally, there are some who admire his "screw the government" stance, which I guess IS a little tempting to feel.
I, too, got a few really great deals there......I think. But, I never had to return anything to the Kings Ave. store (the only one you COULD take them to) and get the hassle that many have reported. Plus, I can't be 100% sure that I didn't get used, refurbished, or damaged stuff that was routinely sold, but not revealed until years later. Like most young people back then, I paid cash for both the product and the sales tax. It's anyone's guess where that cash went.
Being a happy customer, it's easy to have a soft spot in my heart for Eddie. With his primary competition being Topps (king of and possibly the originator of bait-and-switch), Crazy Eddie's looked like a friend. It was truly one of the all-time great deceptions.
Man, life is just full of disappointments, isn't it?
I, too, got a few really great deals there......I think. But, I never had to return anything to the Kings Ave. store (the only one you COULD take them to) and get the hassle that many have reported. Plus, I can't be 100% sure that I didn't get used, refurbished, or damaged stuff that was routinely sold, but not revealed until years later. Like most young people back then, I paid cash for both the product and the sales tax. It's anyone's guess where that cash went.
Being a happy customer, it's easy to have a soft spot in my heart for Eddie. With his primary competition being Topps (king of and possibly the originator of bait-and-switch), Crazy Eddie's looked like a friend. It was truly one of the all-time great deceptions.
Man, life is just full of disappointments, isn't it?
Sarah Ehrett's Lesbian Love Interest
Sep 11, 2016, 3:35:06 PM9/11/16
to
Here's a Crazy Eddie commercial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvqfvvQIoIM
Here's Portland Oregon's version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iyUhFM_Sbg
Now, who's crazy?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvqfvvQIoIM
Here's Portland Oregon's version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iyUhFM_Sbg
Now, who's crazy?
Sarah Ehrett
Sep 11, 2016, 5:39:00 PM9/11/16
to
On Sun, 11 Sep 2016 12:35:01 -0700 (PDT), "Sarah Ehrett's Lesbian Love
Interest" <wilm...@gmail.com> wrote:
>Here's a Crazy Eddie commercial:
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvqfvvQIoIM
>
>Here's Portland Oregon's version:
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iyUhFM_Sbg
He looks like a bad impression of Rob Gronkowski trying to replace the
Interest" <wilm...@gmail.com> wrote:
>Here's a Crazy Eddie commercial:
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvqfvvQIoIM
>
>Here's Portland Oregon's version:
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iyUhFM_Sbg
original. Crazy Eddie was well known both in and outside the New
York area.
>Now, who's crazy?
Since you asked, *you* are.
Sarah Ehrett
Sep 11, 2016, 5:44:21 PM9/11/16
to
early 60's. I have the original sales slip in my files. I still
have and use those speakers in my living room stereo setup.
MJ Emigh
Sep 11, 2016, 7:11:09 PM9/11/16
to
On Sunday, September 11, 2016 at 2:35:06 PM UTC-5, Sarah Ehrett's Lesbian Love Interest wrote:
> Here's Portland Oregon's version:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iyUhFM_Sbg
I wonder if he'll still be able to do that when his voice changes.
> Here's Portland Oregon's version:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iyUhFM_Sbg
David Carson
Sep 11, 2016, 8:45:30 PM9/11/16
to
According to this
http://pix11.com/2016/09/11/eddie-antar-owner-of-crazy-eddie-retail-chain-dead-at-68/
he was 68.
http://pix11.com/2016/09/11/eddie-antar-owner-of-crazy-eddie-retail-chain-dead-at-68/
he was 68.
Sarah Ehrett's Lesbian Love Interest
Sep 11, 2016, 11:47:36 PM9/11/16
to
Rob Cibik
Sep 12, 2016, 12:00:48 AM9/12/16
to
was s-o-o-o cool to be able to watch WPIX Channel 11 and WOR Channel 9
broadcast from New York City and Secaucus (NJ) respectively. In addition
to the Yankees,The Honeymooners, and Joe Franklin, there were the
commercials by Jerry "Hey Jerry! What's the Story?" Goldberg and "Crazy"
Eddie Antar. The closest we had to those two characters was Solomon Roth
exclaiming in a thick Yiddish accent, "I gotta get out! I gotta get
out!", promoting the latest of the perpetual going out of business sales
his furniture store was having.
Ahh...the old days.
J.D. Baldwin
Sep 12, 2016, 10:13:44 AM9/12/16
to
In the previous article, That Derek <that...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> The New York City Radio Message Radio Board is reporting the death
> of Eddie "Crazy Eddie" Antar, known for his NYC stereo/appliance
> chain "Crazy Eddie's". Most people think that the TV pitchman was
> THE Crazy Eddie but he was radio personality Jerry Carroll.
"Crazy" retailers. I find them both hilarious, particularly the
doctor's comments.
http://www.gocomics.com/tomthedancingbug/2016/08/25
http://www.gocomics.com/tomthedancingbug/2009/03/21
--
_+_ From the catapult of |If anyone objects to any statement I make, I am
_|70|___:)=}- J.D. Baldwin |quite prepared not only to retract it, but also
\ / bal...@panix.com|to deny under oath that I ever made it.-T. Lehrer
***~~~~----------------------------------------------------------------------
Louis Epstein
Sep 12, 2016, 3:58:01 PM9/12/16
to
That Derek <that...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2016/09/crazy_eddie_antar_whose_insaaanne_retail_chain_col.html
>
> 'Crazy Eddie,' electronics chain kingpin with 'insaaane' prices, dead at 68
>
> By Ted Sherman | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
> on September 11, 2016 at 10:02 AM, updated September 11, 2016 at 10:40 AM
>
> BROOKLYN???He was known as Crazy Eddie.
> http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2016/09/crazy_eddie_antar_whose_insaaanne_retail_chain_col.html
>
> 'Crazy Eddie,' electronics chain kingpin with 'insaaane' prices, dead at 68
>
> By Ted Sherman | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
> on September 11, 2016 at 10:02 AM, updated September 11, 2016 at 10:40 AM
>
>
> Eddie Antar, the electronics kingpin who once presided over a retail empire spanning four states, died Saturday,
> according to a family member. Antar's company was known for its frenetic television advertising of a seemingly
> crazed pitchman???before it all collapsed like a house of cards in a multi-million-dollar securities fraud.
> Eddie Antar, the electronics kingpin who once presided over a retail empire spanning four states, died Saturday,
> according to a family member. Antar's company was known for its frenetic television advertising of a seemingly
>
> He was 68. Funeral services are scheduled today in New Jersey.
>
> Antar, who first went into business with his father out of a storefront in Brooklyn, turned Crazy Eddie into the
> largest electronics chain in the New York metropolitan area.
>
> While headquartered in Edison, it grew to 43 stores in four states, fueled by its aggressive sales tactics and over-the-top
> late-night TV ads???at a time when manufacturers fought hard to set retail prices.
> He was 68. Funeral services are scheduled today in New Jersey.
>
> Antar, who first went into business with his father out of a storefront in Brooklyn, turned Crazy Eddie into the
> largest electronics chain in the New York metropolitan area.
>
> While headquartered in Edison, it grew to 43 stores in four states, fueled by its aggressive sales tactics and over-the-top
>
> Indeed, not many knew what Antar looked like. Most mistakenly believed that former New York radio disc jockey Jerry Carroll,
> whose spastic, over-the-top delivery that promised the lowest "insane prices" anywhere, for everything
> from VCRs, stereos, televisions and speakers???and became the face of the Crazy Eddie business???was in fact Eddie himself.
> Indeed, not many knew what Antar looked like. Most mistakenly believed that former New York radio disc jockey Jerry Carroll,
> whose spastic, over-the-top delivery that promised the lowest "insane prices" anywhere, for everything
I NEVER assumed that Carroll (who always referred to Eddie in the third person and looked nothing like
the polka-dot-bow-tied,wild-haired cartoon Eddie in the ads) was Eddie himself.But did the real Eddie
look anything like the cartoon?
I recall,when the firm collapsed amid prosecution,that Eddie had an uncle Eddy who was also involved
with the firm...I take it he died already?
-=-=-
The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again,
at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.
MJ Emigh
Sep 12, 2016, 11:16:26 PM9/12/16
to
On Monday, September 12, 2016 at 2:58:01 PM UTC-5, Louis Epstein wrote:
> I NEVER assumed that Carroll (who always referred to Eddie in the third person and looked nothing like> the polka-dot-bow-tied,wild-haired cartoon Eddie in the ads) was Eddie himself.
And the slogan was "HIS prices (etc.)", but people somehow ignored that. It was in the era of the Carvel guy and the Wendy's guy, and I think Col. Sanders was still around too, so maybe that had something to do with it.
> I NEVER assumed that Carroll (who always referred to Eddie in the third person and looked nothing like> the polka-dot-bow-tied,wild-haired cartoon Eddie in the ads) was Eddie himself.
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