The Wiz (store)

Last updated
Nobody Beats the Wiz
TypeElectronics
Industry Retail
Founded1977
2004 (online retailer owned by P.C. Richard)
FoundersStephan Jemal
Douglas Jemal
Lawrence Jemal
Marvin Jemal
Defunct2003 (retail stores only)
Headquarters Carteret, New Jersey
ProductsComputers, televisions, VCRs, and DVD players
Parent Cablevision (electronics chain)
P.C. Richard & Son (online retailer)
Website thewiz.com

The Wiz, also known at times as Nobody Beats the Wiz, was a chain of electronic stores in the northeastern United States, located primarily in New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Contents

History

The chain was founded by four brothers, Stephan, Lawrence, Marvin, and Douglas Jemal, in New York City in 1977. [1] Later, it officially changed its name to its well-known advertising slogan, "Nobody Beats The Wiz." During the early-to-mid 1990s "Nobody Beats The Wiz" was a major sponsor for many local NY sports franchises, including the Yankees, Knicks, Mets, New Jersey Nets, Rangers, New Jersey Devils and Islanders. It also sponsored teams outside the NY area such as the Orioles, Flyers, Whalers and Canadiens. In 1996, the company threatened legal action against the Major League Soccer franchise the Kansas City Wiz, who were renamed the Wizards as a response. [2]

In 1998, after having expanded from roughly 20 stores to over 80 stores in less than a year, the chain filed for bankruptcy and was purchased by Cablevision for $80 million. Cablevision eventually dropped the "Nobody Beats the Wiz" slogan. At its peak, the firm's revenues were $1.4 billion, with 2000 employees, operating 94 stores in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, and Massachusetts. It also operated music-only stores in Maryland and the Washington, D.C. area.

The 1977-1998 and 2004-present Nobody Beats the Wiz logo. TheWiz.png
The 1977-1998 and 2004-present Nobody Beats the Wiz logo.

The chain closed permanently in 2003. A Cablevision press release from February 16, 2003 stated: "Continuing to operate the stores is no longer a viable option for Cablevision as business conditions at the retailer eroded due to a weakened retail economy and other factors." Once the chain closed, one of its founders, Marvin Jemal, opened a new electronics chain, The Zone, in a number of former Wiz locations. The new chain, which heavily mentioned that it was from the founder of The Wiz, went out of business less than two years later.

In September 2003, competitor P.C. Richard purchased The Wiz's assets mainly for its name. [3]

In the Seinfeld episode "The Junk Mail", Elaine Benes dates Jack, a man with whom she has a "love at first sight" encounter owing to his appearing as "The Wiz" in a "Nobody Beats the Wiz" commercial.

In the 1999 Thomas Harris novel Hannibal, Mason Verger recalls that at his family's Christian camp, they styled the Risen Christ as "the Riz" because "Nobody Beats the Riz".'

The jingle is interpolated in the chorus of Biz Markie's hit, "Nobody Beats the Biz". Biz substitutes "the Biz" for "the Wiz". The Wiz was rumored to have sued Biz Markie for infringement, but this was not the case. [4]

In Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock's 1988 hit "It Takes Two," referring to his album, Base raps "Go to the Wiz and select it / Take it off the rack, if it's wack put it back."

In the episode "Veiled Threat" from the show The King of Queens , Doug (in a flashback to his wedding day) mentions wanting a wedding gift of a CD player from The Wiz.

In the season 12 premiere of the show It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia , one of the characters' suggestions to switch back to their old bodies is to go to the store The Wiz to fix Dee's VCR, since they were watching the film The Wiz at the time. [5]

In 1997 through 1998, Mono Puff would occasionally perform a song called "I Beat the Wiz", used to introduce the members of the band. [6]

In the 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street, an umemployed Jordan Belfort sees a classified ad for a stockboy opening at Nobody Beats the Wiz and thinks that is a way to get hired as a salesman from the inside, but is dissuaded by his wife.

In 2021, New York Yankees broadcaster John Sterling began to exclaim "Nobody beats the Rizz!" after a home run by first baseman Anthony Rizzo.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biz Markie</span> American rapper from New York (1964–2021)

Marcel Theo Hall, known professionally as Biz Markie, was an American rapper and singer. Markie's 1989 single "Just a Friend", became a Top 40 hit in several countries and was named No. 100 on VH1's list of the 100 greatest hip-hop songs of all time in 2008. Markie was sometimes referred to as the "Clown Prince of Hip Hop".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A&P</span> Defunct American grocery store chain

The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, better known as A&P, was an American chain of grocery stores that operated from 1859 to 2015. From 1915 through 1975, A&P was the largest grocery retailer in the United States.

Pathmark is a supermarket brand owned by Allegiance Retail Services, a retailers’ cooperative based in Iselin, New Jersey, USA. Pathmark currently has one location in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York, which it has operated since 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Circuit City</span> Consumer electronics retailer

Circuit City Corporation, Inc., formerly Circuit City Stores, Inc., was an American consumer electronics retail company, which was founded in 1949 by Samuel Wurtzel as the Wards Company, operated stores across the United States, and pioneered the electronics superstore format in the 1970s. After multiple purchases and a successful run on the NYSE, it changed its name to Circuit City Stores Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McCrory Stores</span> American store chain

McCrory Stores or J.G. McCrory's was a chain of five and dime stores in the United States based in York, Pennsylvania. The stores typically sold shoes, clothing, housewares, fabrics, penny candy, toys, cosmetics, and often included a lunch counter or snack bar. They also exclusively sold Oriole Records, one of the most popular 'dime store labels' from 1921 to 1938.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farmer Jack</span> Supermarket in Michigan. U.S.

Farmer Jack was a supermarket chain based in Detroit, Michigan. At its peak, it operated more than 100 stores, primarily in metropolitan Detroit. In its final years, the chain operated as the Midwest subsidiary of the New Jersey-based A&P Corporation. A&P closed the Farmer Jack chain on July 7, 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">YES Network</span> American regional sports network

The Yankee Entertainment and Sports Network (YES) is an American pay television regional sports network owned by Yankee Global Enterprises, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios, Amazon, and The Blackstone Group, RedBird Capital and Mubadala Investment Company, which each own 13%. Primarily serving New York City, New York and the surrounding metropolitan area, it broadcasts a variety of sports events, as well as magazine, documentary and discussion programs; however, its main emphasis is focused on games and team-related programs involving the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, the NBA's Brooklyn Nets, the WNBA's New York Liberty and New York City FC of Major League Soccer.

Woodward & Lothrop was a department store chain headquartered in Washington, D.C. that began as the capital's first department store in 1887. Woodies, as it was often nicknamed, maintained stores in the Mid-Atlantic United States. Its flagship store was a fixture of Washington, D.C.'s downtown shopping district, competing with Garfinckel's and acquiring Palais Royal. The chain filed for bankruptcy in January 1994 and completed liquidation in November 1995, with most locations sold to either J. C. Penney or May Department Stores Company. The flagship building is a D.C. historic landmark that became the center of controversy over competing visions for DC's urban renewal after the chain's demise, and the former service warehouse in the city's northeast is also listed as a landmark.

Fortunoff is a New York–based retailer of outdoor furniture and jewelry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">P. C. Richard & Son</span> Chain of American household goods stores

P.C. Richard & Son, commonly known as simply P.C. Richard, is the largest chain of private, family-owned appliance, television, electronics, and mattress stores in the United States. Its 66 stores are located in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, with the majority of the stores located on Long Island, including the New York City boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. The company is also known for its trademark whistle jingle created by Soundsmith worker Leer Leary. It is used by the New York Yankees after striking out an opposing batter at Yankee Stadium. It is also used by the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball after striking out an opposing batter at Fairfield Properties Ballpark.

Kaspien Holdings, Inc. is an American company that provides software and services for ecommerce. Kaspien Holdings operates on Amazon in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and India, as well as Walmart Marketplace, eBay, Google Shopping, and Target. Its interim CEO is Goldman Sachs veteran Brock Kowalchuk, who took over March 11, 2022.

Yankee Global Enterprises, LLC, formerly YankeeNets, LLC, is an American limited liability company (LLC) which owns the New York Yankees baseball team, along with a plurality stake in YES Network and a 20% and 10% stake in New York City FC and AC Milan soccer clubs, respectively. It was formed in 1999 and is controlled by the family of George Steinbrenner. Other investors, including Lester Crown, Donald Marron and Jerry Speyer, own minority stakes.

Modell's Sporting Goods Online, Inc. is a digitally native retailer which specializes in sporting goods and related apparel. Modell's began with operating retail stores between the late 1980s and the late 2010s. In 2020, Modell’s became a brand owned by the private equity firm Retail Ecommerce Ventures.

MSG Sportsnet is an American regional sports network owned by MSG Entertainment; it operates as a sister channel to MSG Network. The network serves the New York City metropolitan area, whose reach expands to cover the entire state of New York, Northern New Jersey, Southwestern Connecticut and Northeastern Pennsylvania; MSG Sportsnet carries sports events from several of the New York area's professional sports franchises, as well as college sports events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Food Fair</span>

Food Fair, also known by its successor name Pantry Pride, was a large supermarket chain in the United States. It was founded by Samuel N. Friedland, and his brother George I. Friedland who opened the first store in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in the late 1920s. As of 1957, Food Fair had 275 stores, and at its peak, the chain had more than 500 stores. Friedland's family retained control of the firm through 1978, when the chain entered bankruptcy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mattress Firm</span> American mattress retailer

Mattress Firm Inc. is an American mattress store chain founded on July 4, 1986. The headquarters of the company is located in Houston, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cablevision</span> Former American cable television company

Cablevision Systems Corporation was an American cable television company with systems serving areas surrounding New York City. It was the fifth-largest cable provider and ninth-largest television provider in the United States. Throughout its existence and in its final years, Cablevision exclusively served customers residing in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and a small part of Pennsylvania. However, at one time it provided service in as many as 19 states. Cablevision also offered high-speed Internet connections, digital cable, and VoIP phone service through its Optimum brand name. Cablevision also offered a WiFi-only mobile phone service dubbed Freewheel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Douglas Jemal</span> American real estate developer (born 1942)

Douglas Jemal is an American real estate developer, landlord, and the founder of Douglas Development.

Newmark and Lewis was a chain of consumer electronics stores described by The New York Times as an appliance-store chain. It was founded by Edward Newmark and Richard David Lewis in 1924. Problems of the industry of which it was part included cutthroat price competition, which caused low profit margins, and slow consumer purchasing cycles, the latter because of "lack of fresh products." When it closed in 1992, it had 26 remaining stores, having earlier closed even more than that.

References

  1. Aaron Elstein (April 13, 2014). "Nobody Beats the Wiz family's fall - The Jemal brothers struggle to re-create their days of discount-chain glory". Crain's New York.
  2. West, Phil (August 9, 2017). "How Sporting Kansas City got their name". Major League Soccer. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
  3. Wax, Alan (2003-09-04). "The Wiz Gets Resurrected / Retailer P.C. Richard plays $1.8M for bankrupt rival's assets". Newsday . New York, New York. Retrieved 2017-11-11.
  4. Seth Goldstein (April 3, 2019). "The Iconic 'Nobody Beats the Wiz' #ThrowbackThursday". NYNJ.com. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
  5. "'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's season 12 opener may be the series' most controversial episode yet". Philly.com. January 5, 2017.
  6. "I Beat The Wiz - TMBW: The They Might Be Giants Knowledge Base". tmbw.net. Retrieved 2023-01-06.