Retail Gangster

The Insane, Real-Life Story of Crazy Eddie

De: Gary Weiss

Narrado por: Richard Ferrone

A biography of the spectacular rise and fall of Eddie Antar, better known as "Crazy Eddie," whose home electronics empire changed the world even as it turned out to be one of the biggest business scams of all time

Back in the fall of 2016, we heard the news about the passing of Eddie Antar, "Crazy Eddie" as he was known to millions of people, the man behind the successful chain of electronic stores and one of the most iconic ad campaigns in history. Few things evoke the New York of a particular era the way "Crazy Eddie! His prices are insaaaaane!" does. The journalist Herb Greenberg called his death the "end of an era" and that couldn't be more true. What's insane is that his story has never been told.

Before Enron, before Madoff, before The Wolf of Wall Street, Eddie Antar's corruption was second to none. The difference was that it was a street franchise, a local place that was in the blood stream of everyone's daily life in the 1970s and early '80s. And Eddie pulled it off with a certain style, an in your face blue collar chutzpah. Despite the fact that then U.S. Attorney Michael Chertoffcalled him "the Darth Vader of capitalism" after the extent of the fraud was revealed, one of the largest SEC frauds in American history after Crazy Eddie's stores went public in 1984, Eddie was talked about fondly by the people who worked for him. They still do--there are myriads of ex-Crazy Eddie employee web pages that still attract fans, and the Crazy Eddie fraud scheme is now taught in every business school across the United States.

Many years have passed since the franchise went down in spectacular fashion but Crazy Eddie's moment has endured the way that iconic brands and characters do—one only need Google the media outpouring that accompanied his death. Maybe it's because it crystallized everything about 1970s New York almost perfectly, the merchandise and rise of consumer electronics (stereos!), the ads (cheesy!), the money (cash!). In Retail Gangster, investigative journalist Gary Weiss takes listeners behind the scenes of one of the most unbelievable business scam stories of all time, a story spanning continents and generations, reaffirming the old adage that the truth is often stranger than fiction.

©2022 Gary Weiss (P)2022 Hachette Books

FANTASTIC!!

I've listened to this book 5 times now. It's FANTASTIC!! THIS IS NOT A GOOFY WEIRDO A.I GENERATED REVIEW..nope. Growing up in Baltimore and visiting my families in Philly and New York..seeing and hearing a CRAAAZY EDDIE commercial was very common for me. This book gives a behind the scenes look at the machanitions of a HUSTLER...no penny turned down, no dollar too dirty, and always ready to give the money he earned more company!! Fantastic book .. definitely worth the time invested

A back story and adventure I knew nothing about.

This was a fun ride. The scams, the chaos, the multiple cons...this guy did anything and everything to make another dollar.
This tells a story I admittedly, never knew about. There are laws, double checks and so much more in place now due to guys like this.
Learn about the scams, adventures and con stories that go from mild to insane.
I'll likely listen to this again eventually.

Interesting but…

This was very interesting. But it could have been MUCH MUCH shorter. It was a relatively simple story of a bunch of crooks. But went into WAY too much detail about the family and cultural history. If it just told the story of the business dealings, it’s be much more abridged and enjoyable.
This was written more like a detailed family chronicle than a story.
But.. if you’re interested in this topic, i you have all of the details you need.
Very well delivered and narrated.

Wild Story

How is this not a movie?!? This book is an essential for anyone who likes true crime set in the 1960s through present day. It’s a family crime story that is mind blowing.

Insane Choice of Narrator

The story was interesting and quite detailed. Narrator has a very irritating voice. Made me want to blow off finishing the book. The ending of the book is weakly done.

NAD great electronics retail story

But need more on the retail and less about lawsuits and lawyers. The beginning was great. The last half was a bit of a drag.

His prices were insane! So was his life

A fascinating story of how a small-time hustler eventually grew a multimillion dollar retail empire based on fraud, scams and a series of obnoxious advertisements that became part of the cultural zeitgeist. Drags a little at the end and at the very beginning, but the whole ride is worth taking. The narrator for the audiobook has a smoky voice that perfectly compliments the story.

The book was “Insane!”

Growing up in Brooklyn near the Coney Island store during the 80’s, I lived everything they talked about in the book. I did know how insane the frauds were. This would make a great movie on par with the Wolf of Wall Street.

Ordinary Crook

Interesting story. Shows the vulnerability of Wall Street and its analysts. Did not care for the narration. Very distracting. Eddie was a common crook. Clever, but as with most, had no core values to save him. Greed for greed's sake.

A crazy story about Crazy Eddie

I grew up in Brooklyn, right smack in the Syrian Jewish community that produced the Antar family, and I lived only a few blocks from the main Crazy Eddie store on Coney Island Avenue. It's strange to hear of the story from the inside - I already had known of the story from the outside. Well written, a story so completely bonkers that it must be true, and great narration. Recommended reading for anyone familiar with the NY phenomenon of Crazy Eddie. Disturbing, hilarious, and a great read.