If you are over 30, grew up anywhere in the Northeast or had any exposure to a television (and now YouTube), you may recall that there is a holiday coming up.
Here's a screaming hint: "It's Crrrrr-aaaazy Eddie Christmas-in-August blow-out blitz! Crazy Eddie is going to save you a bllllllizzard of bucks!...You've seen the movie, you've read the book, you've got the T-shirt, now experience it for yourself! Crrrrr-aaaazy Eddie's Christmas in August TV and Video blow-out Blitz!!"
That ad copy ring any bells? Anyone who saw even one of the original Crazy Eddie television spots featuring the hyped-up, uber-caffeinated voice of radio DJ Jerry Carroll, who famously brought the Crazy Eddie character to life (and in a very nice turtleneck and sports jacket) on the small screen, will now have his voice screaming through their memory.
Quite a brand accomplishment, especially since those electronics store ads haven't run since 1989, when the Crazy Eddie retail chain shuttered amidst international scandal involving near-mythical violations of federal securities laws. Now, new owners of the Crazy Eddie brand are investing in the hunch that most folks will have long-forgotten the fraud case but not the tag line, "Crrrr-aaazy Eddie! His prices are in-saaaaaane."
"Crazy Eddie represents cool, energy, rock and roll, and a funny, hip approach," said Ike Gemal, Vice President of Magic Investments, a New York-based family business which purchased liscensing rights to Crazy Eddie late in '08 for what he says was "about $50,000."
The Gemal family's own approach to making the brand work in the CE retail space in 2009 and beyond is an energized blend of e-tailing, social media networking, marketing, goods-sourcing and a little brick-and-mortar too. Magic Investments has already put up a website, www.pricesareinsane.com, offering competitive price points on a variety of name-brand CE products, from iPod Nanos and Blackberry smartphones to Sharp flatpanels and Audiovox GPS systems. But the family isn't actually involved in warehousing or shipping those offerings right now.
"We're contracting out the e-tailing," said Gemal. "A third party has the inventory. You have to take shortcuts in the world today, much like Amazon or Toys R Us, you work the brand and contract out the services for the most part...I don't like business plans that involve sales and margins. I like the creative business plans that have organic growth involved. That's what we're looking for."
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I would'nt trust anyone in the Jamal family
rememebr the ZONE also Jemal
took me for $100,00.00.
Crazy Eddie was a bait and switch operation and is associated with one of the largest securities frauds by a retailer. Capitalizing on the Crazy Eddie name as a new business is like starting an investment firm called, "Bernie Madoff Securities."
Sam E. Antar (former Crazy CFO and a convicted felon)