"If it seems odd that a purveyor of VCRs and stereos could make investors swoon, remember that this was the 1980s, and people were getting pumped about cellular phones that were roughly the size of microwaves."
That is not how I remember it. To insinuate VCRs and stereos should not have been sought after in the 1980's is silly. Most people had no interest in a cellular phone. They wanted TVs. The author's comment begs the question, "Was Mark Dent in NYC buying electronics in the 1980s."
Crazy Eddie defrauded investors but generally, as I remember it, they were honest toward their customers. To be trutthful, I was not much of a Crazy Eddie customer. I only bought from them a few times. I chose to buy from their competitors, other electronics dealers in NYC with "low, low" prices and price guarantees. Like Crazy Eddie, these shops focused on volume.
Anyone remember places like 6th Ave electronics. Prices were published, in their newspaper ads. In theory one could take one of these ads to Crazy Eddie if that was one's preference for where to shop. Apparently 6th Ave imploded even faster than Crazy Eddie. There is a Wikipedia page devoted to the subject.^1
To some perhaps these places felt like they were being run by "hustlers". As a customer, I never found them to be dishonest, they were just barebones operations. No salesmanship, no BS. The price is low, the stock is here, take it or leave it. The educated consumer was their best customer.
However I see marked differences with how people today use the word "hustle", e.g., this website. Today, customers are the target of "tech" company deception and investors are the enablers. It is unlikely these 1980s era electronics shops had wealthy investors backing them like "tech" companies have today. They had to make money in the present to stay in business. Their employee salaries were paid from revenues or loans, not investment rounds. If they failed to make money, eventually they went bankrupt. They had skin in the game.
That is not how I remember it. To insinuate VCRs and stereos should not have been sought after in the 1980's is silly. Most people had no interest in a cellular phone. They wanted TVs. The author's comment begs the question, "Was Mark Dent in NYC buying electronics in the 1980s."
Crazy Eddie defrauded investors but generally, as I remember it, they were honest toward their customers. To be trutthful, I was not much of a Crazy Eddie customer. I only bought from them a few times. I chose to buy from their competitors, other electronics dealers in NYC with "low, low" prices and price guarantees. Like Crazy Eddie, these shops focused on volume.
Anyone remember places like 6th Ave electronics. Prices were published, in their newspaper ads. In theory one could take one of these ads to Crazy Eddie if that was one's preference for where to shop. Apparently 6th Ave imploded even faster than Crazy Eddie. There is a Wikipedia page devoted to the subject.^1
To some perhaps these places felt like they were being run by "hustlers". As a customer, I never found them to be dishonest, they were just barebones operations. No salesmanship, no BS. The price is low, the stock is here, take it or leave it. The educated consumer was their best customer.
However I see marked differences with how people today use the word "hustle", e.g., this website. Today, customers are the target of "tech" company deception and investors are the enablers. It is unlikely these 1980s era electronics shops had wealthy investors backing them like "tech" companies have today. They had to make money in the present to stay in business. Their employee salaries were paid from revenues or loans, not investment rounds. If they failed to make money, eventually they went bankrupt. They had skin in the game.
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixth_Avenue_Electronics